Ocean Drive
by CassanderRoshack
Summary: Almost a year later, Commander Shepard has finally recovered from her injuries sustained in the battle of London, the last of the Reaper War. By her side has been an unyielding Garrus Vakarian; as almost Legend goes, there was never one without the other. They have watched the galaxy rebuilding around them, turning into the old soldiers they truly were. But their story didn't end.
1. Earth - Palavin Exhibit

Garrus Vakarian was suddenly very sure of exactly one thing. He would never quite grasp human culture. He looked up at a piece of Earth art with his head cocked to the side, mandibles twitching with the urge to either ask what he was looking at or to say something about it. It wasn't like he wasn't interested in Earth culture, but some things were just… odd. The one red dot was stark center of an entirely white piece of canvas that stretched across the wall. He stood next to previous Alliance Commander Cassander Shepard, who was also looking up at a giant white canvas. A sign not too far away swung slightly, yellow lettering blazed for the 'Earth-Palaven Alliance' section. They had decided to make a date of it to go see the recently built Art Museum on the Citadel. Supposedly it was to increase partnerships among the alien races, but both of them knew it was more of a political stunt by the Hanar trying to have their own voice among the Council. Besides, Shepard had to get her walking time for today and it seemed like a good place as any.

It took a while to get the Citadel even operational let along open the new shops and floors, let alone open entire sectors of it. Elcor's talked slowly around them at how interesting it was now that culture and inspiration had come to the Citadel. Garrus leaned slightly to look a few feet away at the 'Thessia-Sur'Kesh Alliance' section and let out a slow sigh, knowing he had a lot more exhibits left to go. He leaned back and crossed his arms with a glance at Shepard, who had a similar expression on her face. He cocked his head to the side, trying to see why a painting with one red dot on the canvas was supposed to represent the title: "War is Hell". Shepard let out a slow breath from her nose beside him and Garrus cocked his head the other direction.

He shook his head after another five minutes and Shepard drew breath beside him, "I can't tell if it's representing how we were incredibly outnumbered, or how we lost innocents. Either way, I think we've had enough of the arts." Garrus let out a pint-up breath, "And here I thought I was simply uncultured."

She turned to look at him, half-smile on her face with her arms crossing themselves. "Don't think so. Or at least we're uncultured together. Let's get out of here." Her hand found his as they walked out of the museum together, both enjoying the fact that their hands were halfway in each other's direction. Garrus walked beside her, doors sliding open and the noise of the repairs met them. The deck they were on had a large open view of most of the Citadel below them. A few steps later they were at the balcony, leaning up against the glass in silence. The Presidium stretched out before them so far it looked like it went on for miles. And it did technically. "It's even better than before." She hummed beside him, eyes directed at a group of Asari workers walking past them, talking about improvements to the deck they were on. Another group of Krogans stood not a few feet away, talking to their holographic mates about their children back home. Garrus hummed quietly beside her, resting his head on her's for a moment, then looking back out at where they had one of their first dates. It had drawn his attention and Shepard followed his gaze.

Shepard let her smile curve even more so, "You know," She flipped herself now she was leaning away from the view around them. "I remember a Turian that took me on a date to one of the most restricted parts of the Citadel."

Garrus leaned on the balcony, turning his head to look at her. "I do seem to remember a certain human who enjoyed herself on that outing too." He chuckled, "Guess you want a better view than this, huh? I don't have my sniper rifle with me."

She shrugged, elbows on the railing as she looked up at the lighting on the deck above them. Perhaps not their signature weapons, but the bulge in Garrus' jacket and her hip weren't for looks. A good soldier was always prepared. "Either that or break into some place even more restricted… Let's go back." Garrus knew the tone in her voice, cocking his head to the side. "Then let's go."

Her light eyes turned to look at him, eyebrows raising, "You're serious?"

Garrus clicked his teeth, "When, Commander Shepard, have I ever not been serious about taking the girl of my dreams anywhere? That is my favorite spot on the Citadel..." She grinned, standing straight again as Garrus took them to rent a transport. The line was short and they didn't take long to end up exactly where they had stood almost a year and a half ago. Shepard stepped to the edge and looked down, her toes were right at the edge of the landing. Another inch and there wouldn't be floor at all. Garrus stood not too far away, looking out with his arms crossed. They were quiet together for a moment; relishing the sounds of people and transports flying all around them instead of explosions and screams. Which this place had been full of too many times for both their liking; both of them had been soldiers most of their lives- perhaps on different worlds… but they knew what each other still went through at night. Garrus turned his head and saw that Shepard was still leaned over the edge now, eyes staring down into the depths below. Though her feet were firmly planted, legs slightly parted to keep her balance, she was still bent over the edge. The Turian reached over and took her by the shoulder, gently turning her away from the drop and into a hug. He took in a calming breath when she was in his arms, not knowing he was holding it. He felt Shepard do the same.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something." He said softly into her flaming red hair that ruffled in the wind.

"What is it?" She looked up at him, fingers finding his and wrapping them together. Garrus was quiet for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

"I got an e-mail recently. A few actually. I know- I know you haven't wanted to really leave the Citadel… Or go back to London since…"

He grew quiet for a moment, flash backs of their kiss goodbye and their declarations of love, finding her barely alive underneath the rubble- that small inch of life he had been so despite to save. And if Miranda hadn't been there they very well could of have lost her… The hours waiting outside surrounded by those who they could spare for a moments to check on the progress. She had spent almost the entire year afterward learning how to walk again- writing and reading had come a bit later. And even then, the scars that covered her body now were as bad as his were after taking a missile to the face. "I know you've been recovering. More out of doctor's orders but… my family wants to meet you. And tomorrow they'll be unveiling the wall. The Alliance wants you there."

Her eyes went down to the world below them. The wall building wasn't easily forgotten, even by someone trying to forget it. The council had thought it was an honorable idea to list the names of the fallen they had gathered. Both missing and killed were going to be etched into the strongest material the council could get a hold of. Shepard nodded, letting out a slow sigh. "I know about the wall. No matter how hard you and EDI try to stop me, I can still access my e-mails." She gave him a small smile, finally moving to sit down on the plating where they were standing. He moved down beside her and she took in a breath. "Admiral Hackett wants me to put Anderson's name on the wall. Give the final speech as a sendoff." She admitted softly, which was something rare in Garrus' opinion about the woman. There were very few things she did softly, and somehow even when she spoke in that gentle tone she still commanded the attention of everyone who could hear her.

"-It's about time I saw if my mother's grave is still there." The latter was said more offhandedly than to the Turian holding her hand in his. Her father was in the Navy, but she had never met him. Her mother had fallen into poverty after her father had died, and her job couldn't support both of them with a roof over their head. She had grown up in the worst side of town, in the worst circumstances. They told her it had made her strong young, but she didn't feel any way about her past. Her mother had died when she was eleven, and she had run with gangs and the wrong people until... Shepard's eyes tightly shut as she turned her head to Garrus, asking without seeing his reaction to her. This was going to be difficult. "Come with me?"

It was such a simple question. Three words that even Garrus found nearly more dear than 'I love you' when it came to her. When she had first met him after the Council had shut down his investigation into the Turian Spector, Saren. Even his father had told him to drop the search… Then she had showed up, out of the blue with her squad looking ready to kick shit and take names. Against all advice, she helped him take down Saren. She stayed by his side when he was injured, and helped him again going after Sidonis. Shepard had earned his respect, and his loyalty. He nodded once, then put his forehead against her's. Their breath mingling for a moment they were so close. "Yes." The answer would never change, "I'm behind you all the way."

She seemed to calm at the words, taking a slow breath. "I'm gonna have to get my uniform washed." Shepard turned her head to look out again, "Wait-" Her head turned back to him, "Your family wants to meet me?"

He barked a laugh, such a serious moment broken by her reaction. "Yeah, obviously. They want to meet my entire galaxy." He tilted her chin upward and kissed her slowly, only pulling back to breath, "Plus it's been a while for both of us. We'll start with Earth, get your… planet legs? -back…" He leaned back, "Then we can take as long as you want to get to Palavin. We don't want to do too much too fast."

Always the worrier about her health now days, and Shepard found it one part annoying and one part completely endearing. She was the same way- having bandaged each other more than once in the past. Shepard nodded again, popping her neck. "Next fight. Just not with guns." And yet, she looked more like her old self than she had months. She got to her feet and the Turian's head followed her movement. Garrus looked up at her, head cocked to the side like a curious cat.

"Ready?" He asked, and she offered her hand, "Always. Let's go pack and get whatever I need from the doc our trip."

Garrus stood, "I'll contact the others. They'll want to be there." They walked back to their vehicle and Garrus smirked, "You know I think I'll put a plaque up here."

She laughed, getting in when he opened the door for her. "I'm Garrus Vakarian and this is my favorite spot on the Citadel?" She asked and he slipped into his side.

"I'll tell you later."


	2. Military Classic

She looked into the mirror for a long time, eyes scorching a matching pair.

This wasn't her, simply someone that looked very similar to her. She felt no attachment to this person who stood in front of her. The woman who stared back blankly, as if the feeling was mutual between them. But this clone wore the uniform well… the clean-cut black and gold military dress that made her look so much more serious. Her Commander ranks weighing on her shoulders, a rack of ribbons and medals glinting on her dress jacket with a layer of fresh polish on them, a little jingle of the gold clinking together. It felt like familiar sensations, but yet, distant- like so many things now days.

This couldn't really be her, could it?

For a moment something else caught her attention in the mirror, and turned to look at the rest of her medals lying across their bed. They caught the light of the open window in Garrus and her shared bedroom, laying haphazardly on the edge of the leather shoebox she kept them in. It looked almost a little ridiculous with how many she had and briefly remembered the conversation she had with Garrus. He asked if she wanted to display them somewhere in the apartment and she had answered no. He didn't bring it up again and for once she was glad he didn't pry. She went to scoop the ones that had escaped back into the box, her own on her chest being more of her own choice than anything else.

Anderson had talked about that with her when she was just coming through the ranks. "Don't show off. It's unbecoming. Choose the top three that are the most meaningful and go from there. I call it the Military Classic. Make it look simple, but keep it proud." She moved to return the box to the top shelf of their closet. Her nametag caught on the edge of the box as she stretched. With a sigh she returned to the mirror, working the butterflies on the back of her gold name plate. Like anyone really needed it when it came to her. Small children pointed at her on the street, people asked for voice graphs and… tried to make her out to be some sort of hero.

Her hands dropped to her sides and she sucked in a breath before letting it slowly out. It was too bad she didn't feel like that. She brushed a piece of lent off her chest as almost an afterthought. It felt weird to even wear this again, since she made a point to only wear it during special occasions- the ones she tried to avoid. She fought for a living; not being sat behind a desk and asked to make decisions she had no business making unless she was there in the moment. That was one of the many reasons there had been a refusal letter sent back to the council when they had offered her an Admiral position. She wanted to stay a Commander- if she even bothered to go back to that. The quiet life seemed appealing. For some fleeting moments at least.

And Garrus had been right behind her into retirement, and that hadn't sat right with her since he had told her. She had suspected that had been more because of her than it had been for his own desire to get out of the fight entirely. He was still Archangel, no matter how many times he cleaned his weapon before bed and called it just 'routine maintenance'. He missed the feel of a gun in his hand… and so did she. But she hadn't been off the Citadel in almost a year, and at this point, she was sure the Normandy crew were all across the Galaxy.

There came that feeling again that seemed to settle inside her chest every time she thought about the rest of the Normandy crew. Her crew. The ship had been too far gone to really salvage. There were always rumors of the Alliance building another one, but she doubted they were true. Someone would have told her she imagined. Sure, it was Alliance property technically after you looked over legalities, but that was still her ship. At least Joker had found a replacement body for EDI (more built one with the help of a few friends) and she now served as a model unit for hundreds of AIs to be built into the Alliance Navy. Speaking of Joker, he was now in command of one of the Alliance's largest remaining fleets. So many of her crew had moved on without her. Even she was commanding another ship, could she really run it like the Normandy? Like the clone in the mirror would?

They wouldn't come back for her, only wanting to see if she could even handle being in command again. Shepard couldn't just call them back after all that had happened; most of them had families now... They were in peace times for Christ sake, and- and- Stop. She took a deep breath, clinching her fist tightly to calm herself. The nails of her fingers biting into the palms of her hands.

Something that no matter how many wars she fought in, that humanity had fought in… no one had figured out how to go to bed afterwards and not dream of the what-ifs. To not have something remind you of something else. She pushed it out of her mind as best she could for the moment she was in. Shepard turned away from the mirror, pushing her hair behind her ear and finding her cap. The room was giving her memories everywhere she looked and immediately the door shut behind her.

With her cap under her arm, she descended the stairs of their little apartment on the Citadel. Garrus perked up, dressing in his own dress uniform for this occasion. It made better sense to get dressed before the transport to Earth since the transport bathrooms weren't exactly accommodating, and Garrus had waited dutifully downstairs to make sure the cat was fed. She had picked up a stray a few months ago on one of her walks she had to take every day to keep her legs recovering. A friend was coming over to take care of her even if her food and water bowl was set automatically disperse. He stood up, the black tuff of fur sliding to the other side of their couch lazily. Garrus looked at her thoughtfully, "You look amazing." He complimented, and then came up to her. His blue gaze leveling with her own, "Something on your mind, Shepard?"

He had never really dropped the habit of calling her by her last name unless they were in those very close moments in the dead of night. Her head rose to look up at him, wondering how he read her expression so well. Shepard opened her mouth and then shut it, going with what was nagging at her the least instead. "EDI warned me I'd be asked to give a speech. I wrote something I thought was appropriate for saying goodbye to Anderson. Read it over for me on the trip down?" It was said nonchalantly, but Garrus knew what it meant when she let him in on those things she kept private. Besides, it would keep Garrus' eyes on something and not how badly she might react to being in a tight flying tin can again. Transports had made her sick now- she was working on that issue.

Garrus agreed near instantly, "Absolutely. We should head out though. Joker should be meeting us at the transport; he said he was in the neighborhood."

A brief knowing smile flickered across her face, "I'm sure Joker was just out shopping or something, nowhere near the event or his post, and not making sure I was coming." The woman put on her hat walking out the door to their apartment, Garrus locking it behind them.

"EDI might have needed a new chip or something. I've heard their doing interesting things for AI's these days." He hummed, playing along with a smile of his own.


	3. Long Way Down

"Attention, this is your pilot speaking. Please buckle-in, we are going to hit the atmosphere in a few moments and we'll expect a little more chop than usual due to a recent storm. Nothing to worry about." The intercom went off and Shepard was one of the few people that didn't move a muscle.

In her defense, neither did Garrus; simply because they had both been tightly buckled in since they had left. Many times life or death had solely depended on the seatbelt of a transport vehicle. She had been driving a few of them, and that had been one of the many reasons why Garrus' hadn't undone his after the first take-off. Her nails were biting into the chair's arm rest as Garrus still read the PDA in his gloved claws. The man had developed many useful skills these past few years, but reading in a bumping vehicle was one of the most impressive. They hit a few times on air pockets but nothing really major, and when they eased out, Shepard's breath did as well. The pilot certainly didn't handle it like Cortez did.

Joker was a few seats to her left, holding on his chair in a death grip. Muttering to himself about the atmosphere being fine, but rather it was the shitty barring of the vehicle they were in. And after a particularly hard bump (that sent a soft swear falling from Shepard's lips) he proceeded to demand to talk to the pilot because, "That asshole has no idea how to drive! Look lady, I'm a pilot, just let me talk to him for a second. Tell him to adjust to go with the wind and not against- Hey, it's just basic flying- among other things. -Hey, hey, you don't need to get mean about it!" And was promptly told a second later to slap his ass to a seat by Commander Shepard. Garrus glanced at Joker, seeing the man sit so fast he was surprised he didn't break the chair with impact. The transport marshal send a grateful glance at Shepard as she returned to her seat.

Garrus' fingers found hers and she clutched them as the bumps returned. Her hand facing upwards, and his downwards, as he scrolled with his other hand's thumb. He looked regretful. No, that wasn't the right word for it. Shepard couldn't put her finger on it but was thankful for the distraction of trying to figure it out.

He finally turned off the PDA and offered it back to her, eyes still looking at it. "Well said, love. In that bar I told you about, he's going to have a grin on his face. Stick to that and we'll be back home with that little furball of ours." He told her quietly, not wanting the other passengers to hear. "You know you can do this."

"I know. I'm just…" She swallowed, "I was less scared running towards a reaper about to rip apart Earth than I am now about to speak to these people." Her eyes glanced around the compartment. Joker was looking at a PDA he'd pulled out. She could just barely make out EDIs name on a message board. The redheads hand was still tightly with Garrus', and he didn't slacken his grip.

Garrus knew it wasn't the speech that was really getting to her. It was the future she would have from here. The world was saved. The galaxy, actually. But she hadn't thought past that- she hadn't realized that she would be there for the afterward. The time to bury loved ones she would have to live through. Shepard could rally the might of the Ether to her aid, but when it came to saying goodbye to friends she couldn't find it more difficult.

"I'll be right beside you. Take a breath." He whispered to her as her breathing got a little more rapid with the intensity of the bumps and for a moment it felt like their shuttle tilted very hard. It evened out finally as they made their final descent. Garrus continued to whisper to her, doing the best thing he could think of to ease her mind. Prepare her. He walked her through exactly what was going to happen to her. Like a strategy; something she could relate to.

She had done hundreds of these speeches before. But none that really sat this heavily with her. "They'll call your name. Walk slowly with your head held high because you deserve to. Keep your eyes forward and walk up the steps, don't look out at the crowd yet. Read from your PDA and put his name on the wall. I'll take care of the rest to get you out of there." He kissed her on the temple as her breath evened out almost entirely, "-Even if I have to light Joker on fire." He poked her in the side, giving her a loving look. "Just another fight, just not with guns." He repeated what she had said earlier.

Somehow knowing what was to come made her calmer. She squeezed his hand, "I can do that much." Shepard leaned her head back, blinking at the roof as they touched down. "You know the best laid plans usually go wrong?"

Garrus kissed her temple, "And usually we manage." The words sat in her heart and that made her brave.


	4. Scorched

"And now, a few words from Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy."

She blinked at her name; the background noise had become muted in her mind after a while. Her entire being focused on what she had to say; though the more she rehearsed it, the more it sounded wrong in her mind. Shepard raised her head to look up at Admiral Hackett, blinking at the sunlight in her eyes.

Just as Garrus said, she walked slowly through the ranks of individuals that had given speeches today. Her place was the last in line, and she stepped up to the podium to look over the crowd gathered. The sun was shining brightly against the skyscrapers in the background- their silver and their burn marks reflecting off of what was left in the rebuild of London. The pad was gently placed on the podium, as she cleared her throat.

Shepard looked out over the crowd gathered, seeing many members of her crew. All of her crew, actually… Even though she was partly blinded by the parting clouds, she could have sworn she saw a few other familiar faces. Thane, Legion, Mordin, Ashley and so many more among their ranks. The rain clouds had separated slowly through the day, warming the damp air and taking the chill from the air. Shepard couldn't think of more fitting weather.

"Thank you all for coming." Her voice had a tremble at first, looking across what seemed like a sea of familiar faces. Tali nodded to her from the front, bright eyes behind her mask staring straight into hers; wordless encouragement to go on. It steadied her tone as she drew breath.

"Some of you have come to share a day with us that is both sad and long awaited. None of us had high intention of making it through the Reaper War, and as you can see by the names here. Many didn't. No planet was safe, no soldier on the battle field, and certainly, no family left back home. Somehow, we won. And that victory belongs to every last one of us. Every civilization on every world." A few people nodded sadly, lost in their own memories of the war. "Now, as we take our first steps toward restoring what we lost, we must remember what it took to win." Video cameras were circling her above the crowds heads, panning and displaying her face on screens she could see. She looked down at the pad for the first time.

"All of our homes, our worlds, our fleets and defenses... all of this and more, are represented on this wall. I have been Commander of the Normandy for a long time, and I have met some of the most brilliant and brave people of my entire life. And in the beginning of this war, I was given a job. I left Earth on the orders of Admiral Anderson. We fought many battles to get from there to here," Her mind flashed to meeting her clone, to her relationship with Garrus, to saying goodbye to Thane. "And we lost so many people along the way. One of them being Admiral Anderson himself."

She paused, looked at the PDA in front of her again. With one slightly shaky finger, she turned it off with a touch. Her eyes looked up to meet the many staring back, "Not many people know I met David Anderson before I joined the Alliance. I was an orphan on Earth, running with a few people that have long since been gone."

She didn't want to read something when it came to talking about him. Not after all this had happened. Shepard spoke louder and more clear, "I actually stole Anderson's wallet." Garrus' expression twitched slightly in his stoic state, as if he had expected nothing less of her. The audience gave a weak chuckle through the tears in this ceremony. "He caught me a few blocks away. He managed to go over two fences to keep up; but I gave him a run for his money. No pun intended." She smiled slightly, remembering how he had been practically wheezing by the end of it. "I ended up giving the wallet back to him. Anderson asked me where I lived… and you can probably imagine the answer I gave him for an orphan. Anderson took me in, gave me my first warm meal in two weeks and gave me his phone in case I needed anything else. By age 17 I had forged my own paperwork to get into the Alliance. And you can take a wild guess who caught me doing that too." Now there were more smiles; he had been a father figure to more than just her, she was sure. "Admiral David Anderson was one of the wisest men I ever knew. One hell of a leader and a trusted friend. And he was that to everyone who knew him."

"He and everyone else on this wall gave us a chance. A future paid for by the sacrifices of those who fought and died alongside us. A future also, for our children's children to live knowing they are safe and prepared for whatever comes next." She took a breath, tears running down both her cheeks and people were clapping now. "I look forward to seeing what future they assured for us." A deep breath out of relief, "Thank you." The entire crowd was clapping as she picked up Anderson's nameplate. The last one to go on the wall. She walked a few steps from the podium she had given her speech from. Every camera on the planet was on her as she pressed the name into place and the entire wall lit up in a brilliant blue glow behind every etching of name. The glow started at Anderson's name and flooded through it like water- making the wall they made a bright shining beacon of their future. Garrus was at her side in a moment after the speech was over, "Great job... He is so proud."

She followed him off stage, still trying to keep her throat clear and eyes dry. "I-." She was interrupted by a storm of people flooding them not thirty feet behind the stage. A few she recognized actually; one being Diana Allers, who was one of the people right in front. Garrus, who had a flashback of his own of a much darker scene, stepped to put himself between the group and Shepard. Some of the reporters had actually backed a few steps back as the tall Turian stood before them with a look on his face that said he was anything to be trifled with. Diana had worked with him before, having absolutely no fear as she stepped right up to meet him. She stayed on the Normandy for a while and reported quite a few of their exploits to get the media and more people behind them for the war. "Commander Shepard, excuse me, can I have a moment?"

A pause, before a single nod and Shepard stepped from behind to beside of Garrus. He didn't argue because it had been her decision, but still stay in that looming stance over the crowd.

Joker was far to the left of them, talking to Liara loudly. "Told ya he removed the stick to wanna beat people to death with it." It would have caused a bit of laughter if Garrus hadn't narrowed his eyes. "Commander Shepard, you've just given an amazing speech and said goodbye to one of your closet friends it seems. A lot of people question your actions in the final moment- whether or not that you could have done more. Do you have any responses to these questions?"

Joker snarled, "And they could have done a lot more too-." Tali put her hand on his mouth with a very audible "shush!" in the background. Garrus stiffened beside her, talk about asking the rough questions right at the start of an already unwanted interview...

It said something about her as a leader when she stared the question down looking right into Diana's eyes. "When I was up there I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind. A lot of people doubt my decision not to take control of the Reapers… But I have seen what the Reapers do to people."

The Illusive Man in his final moments ran through her mind, then to Anderson beside her- bleeding out. "And destroying them was the best decision for humanity and every other species in this Galaxy. And as to me doing more…"

There was a moment of quiet when her voice died in her throat, "…there isn't a single day that I don't wonder that myself." Diana nodded slightly, clearing her throat. She understood what made her say that- she had been one of the crew.

The other reporters, now confident the Turian beside her was for show, rushed forward again, pushing their recorders in Shepard's face. She took a step back and there were questions shouted at her, Garrus put up his arms to keep the crowd control back with the help of a few other security officers. "What do you mean all species? Are more going to be added to the council?" Another voice, "Are you returning to Palavin with Garrus Vakarian?" A louder one immediately after that Shepard seemed to hear over the shouts, "What are you doing next, Commander Shepard?"

She held up her hands, her disposition rapidly declining as they backed her into a corner and the flashes kept leaving spots in her vision. The rest of the crowd was either celebrating, crying or moving along to a feast that was supposed to be held afterward. She was just making a bee-line toward the exit. "Going on vacation!" She answered a burly man who had asked her the last question. Just like that she was gone, Garrus creating a barrier between them and her as they walked. Cameras flashing and videos being recorded.


	5. SR-3

Shepard clicked the television remote almost hard enough to break the button. Garrus glanced at her from the side, holding his pad in one hand while he rested his head on his other fist. They sat in bed together, Garrus under the covers and Shepard sitting cross legged in on top, medical paperwork and holographic pads like his surrounding her. E-mails slowly scrolled upward at his own pace on his, but froze when his eyes looked away. News channels flickered across the screen as she read the lowest headline on the screen- the most important as she said; though it was obvious that she was listening to the main stories.

Shepard had a frown on her face, and her brow continued to crunch together at each brief snippet of news story, "Commander Shepard taking a vacation? What in the hell does that mean? Is she defecting-?"

The channel changed, "Honestly she deserves it. She's saved the world how many times now?"

Channel change, "Bet she's running off to the Turian side with that so called 'boyfriend' of hers. You know those bird look'in bastards are all out to kill us!"

Channel change. "Commander Shepard, hero or future dictator? What's next for this le-?"

Garrus cleared his throat, "At this right you'll run out of channels and we've got the best package."

"What?" She asked a tad bit sharply, but caught herself at the end of the word. "Sorry." There was a sigh as the remote was tossed against his hip. "Change it to whatever you want. I should focus on this." Garrus was now staring at the back of her red hair. It was longer now, hanging down over her shoulders than it's usual style. He then let out a slow breath himself, putting the pad in his hand on the bedside table and stretched upwards.

He leaned a little farther over and set his chin on her shoulder, looking over at the paperwork in front of her face. "Something tells me that your mind is far from paperwork and medical jargon." He brought a hand to her waist, stroking her exposed skin with his thumb. "Put it down. Cuddle up with your big over-protective boyfriend and tell him what's eating you." He glanced at the tv, "Besides the news casters have no clue what their talking about. They'll pick at anything to make a story… Things are uncertain just as much as they are hopeful."

She turned her head slightly to rest her nose against his, bringing up her hand to his neck. "That's what's eating me, Garrus. This entire galaxy is uncertain. We're at peace, but no one can sleep because we're all jumping at shadows. We're rebuilding but I can't shake the feeling that something is going to go wrong."

Garrus nodded ever so slightly, flicking off the tv and pulling her into his lap. She rested on his chest, his lap surprisingly comfortable for her; despite the hard and rough exterior of him in places, he was wonderfully warm. Her head in the crook of his neck, "I'm glad you convinced me to go to the Memorial today… Thank you for that." The Turian had a soft rumble in his chest as a clawed thumb still stroked over her skin.

"Anytime, honey. Did you still want to visit your mother?" They had taken to staying in an Earth-side hotel rather than head back to the Citadel… one transport ride a day was fine with her for now.

"Tomorrow maybe, before we leave for Palavin." He sighed through his nose. "I know you want to do this for me, but take your time with doing so much traveling. My family can wait." They certainly could after Garrus' recent conversation with them. It had been his original plan to have them come to the Citadel rather than make Shepard travel; but his father had made something out of it. "

How are you expecting her to heal if you keep babying her? She's a Commander and should be treated as such. Your sister and I have work to do on Palavin." He had practically told him that it was his way or the highway and it hadn't made Garrus move any quicker to have Shepard meet them. Not with that attitude at least.

"Hey…" She whispered and looked up at him, "What are you thinking? You went from purring to growling." Not entirely, but the slight vibrations that resounded in his chest cavity had become obvious to her these last few months.

Garrus shook his head, touching the side of his face to her hand. "I'm fine, I just wish there was an easy way to do all of this than to put you through it."

One pale freckled shoulder rose and dropped. "I'm sure your family has far too much to do on Palavin than to bother with me, Garrus. But they want to see you, I'm sure. So whatever the distance I'll be fine." She pecked him on his exposed collar bone. "Just as long as we don't do it in a transport."

His mandibles twitched in laughter. When it slowed he decided now would be a good time to tell her what he had been struggling with. Well, at least one of the things.

"No. But how about in the SR-3…"

She stilled and pulled away to look him in the eye, "What did you say?" Her voice was soft and Garrus let his mandibles twitch again.

"SR-3. Joker was whispering like an excited school girl about it at the Memorial."

The redhead bit her lip, thoughts going a mile a minute, "They've-"

Garrus slowly nodded, "-Rebuilt her. Did some upgrades. I submitted a calibration schematic for her. If I can calibrate to take out a reaper with one shot, I can make sure this one is up to standards if not better."

She pulled her hair behind her head into a ponytail, trying to calm her excited hands, "And what are they-?"

Garrus finished her sentence for her, "-It's not known what they plan on doing with her. But you can probably guess. Hackett wants to meet with you tomorrow for lunch." He poked a finger at the pad, "He forwarded e-mail to me when you didn't answer earlier."

A wince, "I'm starting to make you my secretary, I'll start checking them more."

He shook his head, bumping her with his for a second very gently. "Regardless… after we pay our respects, we'll see if we can meet him if you're feeling up to it."

Shepard nodded, "I will be. I want to see it, even if I'm not commanding her."

The turian smiled at her, expression softening at that same determined look he never wanted to forget. "There's my girl."

Shepard smiled herself, "Yeah she shows up every now and then. I wonder if they kept the blue. I'm partial to it." Her fingers brushed across his dry face paint. There was a moment of silence in their closeness. She ran her fingers over the paint and the scars.

They really hadn't faded, but she didn't care. "I never asked you what these were for. I've read they were colonial."

He blinked slowly, eyes never leaving hers, "I had an ancestor that was from the Parthia colony."

Garrus purred as she ran her fingers over his cheek bones, "Is there a reason for the color?" Different colonies usually had different reasons for the color choice. "Blood." She blinked, a little surprised at his answer. She had seen him bleeding enough to know it matched the color of his face paint. "I never had a chance to really look into the different culture of the colonies, tell me about it?" The Turian shrugged himself, "Most of the Turian's keep it to their chests anyway. The colonies were a long time ago but there is still the rare rivalry. It's mostly our grandparents that get snippy about colonies. I've met a lot of turians who just wear it to please their parents. My father always said it was the blood of our kin."

She looked up at him, "I'm sure they're not going to be very happy with a human in the family…"

"I don't care what they think about a human being in the family." He told her softly, turning off the lights, letting the things on their bed slid to the end of it now they could tangle together in the covers. "All I need is you." The skylight offering moonlight for them to see each other. "I love you. That isn't going to change."

She kissed his mouth, the side of mandible, which were more of a lip than what he really had. "I love you too."

Garrus let out a loud purr in his throat, "Go to sleep. I'll watch over you."

A soft chuckle into his chest from her as she whispered, "Archangel became Guardian Angel, huh."

Garrus' laugh mingled with hers, "Damn right."


	6. Mom

Garrus took a breath when they reached the top of the first hill. It been a long morning already; but hiking several miles into the wilderness of Earth was no picnic no matter if it was on your world or another. Especially since this part of Earth was ridiculously cold to him without his thermal stabilizers in his armor- and Shepard gently reminded him that it was barely fifty- and it could go as low in the negatives if they had a bad storm. The Turian kept up with her over the branches, fallen trees, overgrown grass and chilly wind. If he stopped and looked out towards his right, he could see a city- albeit ruined and not fit for inhabitants- but a city none the less. A giant skeleton of a reaper lay on it's side, cutting the entire place in half. It still smelt of charcoal and death here, something he had become numb to. They had picked their way around it before dawn.

Shepard had her red hair pulled into a tight ponytail, her boots marching up the overgrown trail with a familiar ease. Her hands were in her jacket pockets though the rest of her didn't seem to be bothered by this temperature. Garrus had insisted on coming with her, so they had gotten dressed with the time of year in mind.

"I'm sure I'll be complaining about the heat on Palavin." She told him as he caught up with her, hands on his sides as he looked out.

"We'll have to figure out a way to keep you from getting irradiated." He mumbled, "You can't sleep in your suit the entire time you're there."

She shrugged, giving him a slight smile, "I've done it before if the situation called for it. Come on, it's not too much farther."

The Turian grunted, following her up the hill and realized it was anything but. Probably more like a mountain in his opinion since he could see for miles around him. "Why is this place so overgrown since everywhere else is developed?" He asked, glancing up at the tree canopy above them. Sounds of birds were there, which he was grateful for. The city had been dead and too eerily quiet for his taste; abandoned like so many others for now until the reclamation teams got to it.

"It's a nature reserve. After humanity started expanding, they were places that city's couldn't build on to preserve them for animals and plant life. We nearly destroyed the Earth at one point trying to expand."

Garrus nodded slightly, "Makes sense. Turians have similar things but I'm not sure they are this expansive. My parent's house is in one of them. Sort of." He reached up and touched a leaf that came down from a tree that towered over him. She turned to look at him, the smile hadn't left her face. She felt calmer here for some reason; and not the type of calm she felt in the battlefield, oddly enough.

Garrus looked at her, cocking his head to the side and she gestured for him to follow. "If nature reserves are open for the public how are they preserved? Isn't that more… park like?"

Shepard cast him a look over her shoulder, "What makes you think that they are open for the public?"

"Well I can't say I don't have trespassing already on my record… How did you bury your mother here then?"

The woman took a deep breath of the mountain air. "I really didn't if you want to get technical about it… I put her ashes here when I found them."

He blinked at her, catching up to her and cocking his head to the side, "Ashes?" The only time someone had ashes was if were killed in action and they had to burn the bodies to hide the trace. Or if they were infected with something they couldn't allow to leave the area.

Shepard did a double take, then realized what his confusion was about, "Oh it's- it's another type of burial we do. We usually either bury our dead or we cremate them to ashes. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust?" He shook his head, not familiar with the phrase. "Usually we put the ashes in an urn and most people either keep them or send them out an airlock or something."

Garrus slowly blinked to himself, "That's… kind of weird that humans burn their dead to put them in pottery and keep them."

Shepard shrugged, "It's weird that Turians eat rocks to help an upset stomach."

The larger nodded, following her once more, "Touché."

They walked another mile until they were at the farthest they could go on the path she had seemed to be following. Shepard had slowed a little herself at this point, and pulled back a few tree limbs to let Garrus through to a very small clearing. "My mother died when I was a teenager. I didn't know my father; just that he was Alliance Military. She talked about him a lot though."

He stayed quiet, letting her tell her past at her own pace. The only reason why the clearing was as big as it was through the underbrush was because of a single tree. It took Garrus' breath away for a moment, the entire clearing was made up of the trees root system. Palavin was metal and lava... not, this.

"When she died I ran off into the woods; something a stupid kid does when she doesn't know what else to do. We didn't have any family, and I knew where other kids went when they were orphaned… I slept here for two days before heading back into the city. It rained both nights but I didn't get wet because of this tree I climbed up. I was lucky I didn't die in the weather like she had." It was like some mythological being and the entire mountain was made of its roots. She stepped up onto the tree and looked up at it, hands finding familiar hand holds as she climbed up the roots until she was near the base, helping Garrus up behind her. He could climb better than he could swim.

"It's beautiful." Garrus whispered, placing a hand on the bark of it. They had 'trees' on Palavin, but this was so... alien, to him. And even if he had been on Earth several times now for various reasons, he hadn't exactly had time to see what the planet was really like when it wasn't shot full of holes. Shepard nodded, wordless in her agreement with him. There was a soft jingling noise that accompanied the breeze coming through the branches. Shepard followed the sound and Garrus picked his way behind her until she leaned down out of sight. There were things hanging above her head. Broken glass bottles of reds and blues tied with rope to hang down from the branches. Tingling coins or metallic windmills, even tools and other objects that created a musical effect for this place and it's breeze.

And there it was.

A little white headstone marked the place where Shepard had buried the urn. In black, barely readable writing, were the words: 'Hannah Shepard'. Then underneath that, "Mom". Garrus stared at the name for a few moments; this woman, though dead and gone now and never seeing the war her daughter had fought so bravely in, had literally birthed the child to save the galaxy. That sat heavily on him.

"Hi, mom." It was such a sad two words that Garrus' heart pained him a little as he looked at his girlfriend on her knees in front of the stone. "I'm glad you're still here." She said and brushed the leafs and moss that had grown over the marble. He didn't interrupt her, knowing how important this. He had been lucky not to lose any of his family during this war, but he had heard so many prayers it felt like he had. He had heard Primarch Adrien Victus talk to his son constantly when he thought he was by himself on the Normandy. His ancestors would have to wait to meet him as well, since he had been on their doorsteps a few times himself.

"This is Garrus Vakarian. I know, first guy I've ever brought to meet you. You'd like him." She whispered to herself, cleaning up the grave gently. Garrus helped her with some of the higher branches.

"Honor to meet you, Mrs. Shepard." He hummed after she finished with her reunion, his voice a low rumble. The wind rustled the branches a little and she smiled through the tears in her eyes. She wiped them off her cheek, turning her eyes to him. He didn't have to indulge her, but yet he did. He brushed his fingers over her cheek to catch one she missed. "I know she'd be proud of you." He looked back at the headstone. "You made that yourself?"

Shepard chuckled, "Lugged the marble up here myself. The engraving was done by a guy in town who owed me a favor... but mom never really said how she wanted to go."

Garrus nodded to himself, "No one ever really thinks about it."

She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for coming with me. I know it's not…" The woman tried to search for a word that sounded right in her mind but didn't find one.

Garrus turned his head to nuzzle her temple, "It's perfect."

The redhead slowly sighed, "We should probably go. We were going to meet Hackett…"

Garrus shrugged the shoulder she wasn't leaning against, "He can wait if you want to stay."

She leaned forward, plucking a few weeds from the ground in front of them. "Maybe a few more minutes then…"


	7. Choices

"Commander Shepard, good to see you again." Admiral Hackett stood up from his chair, going to meet her with a firm handshake. His face was much more lined and scarred than she remembered, but then again, so was hers. She and Garrus had parted ways when they had gotten back to London from her mother's. Hackett hadn't exactly invited him, Garrus hadn't wanted to intrude and he had been vague about wanting to get some extra shopping done before they went back to the Citadel this evening. She had agreed, and headed into the restaurant Hackett had told her about in his e-mail.

"You too, Admiral Hackett. I'm glad you sent me a message."

He nodded, "Honestly I'm surprised I got a hold of you. Advisor Vakarian was very…" The man in front of her gestured toward their table for them to sit down. "Adamant, in reminding me you were still on medical leave. I suppose he thought I had another assignment for you."

A briefest smile flashed across Shepard's face, "I'm sure he did."

The man glanced at the waitress coming towards them, "Order whatever you like. Lunch is on me."

Her eyebrow raised a little, superior officer buying her lunch? And he didn't have another assignment for her? Right. They ordered their drinks and Shepard flipped through the menu as Hackett brought up the speech. "The entire thing was well-spoken. I'm sure Anderson was upset he didn't get to say a few words himself. He always had something inspirational to say. I admired the man-."

She tuned him out a little at that point. He was going to say the spiel that she had heard more often than she liked. He said that when Ashley had died too. Shepard had finally realized in her old age- for war, she was old- that was the way he coped. Dissociation. She did it too.

She found a word on the menu and arched the other eyebrow at it. A Turian dish Garrus had talked to her about before. His mother made it from time to time on her better days. Surely it was more home cooked but she could try to add it to her list of things to learn about the other's culture. Shepard memorized the ingredients that were labeled below it and glanced up at Hackett who had just taken a sip of water.

"Agreed." She said simply, and he nodded. Like that had been an appropriate response to whatever he had been saying.

The other man switched subjects afterward and Shepard picked something random off the menu for her and shut it. Giving the man her full attention for this part of the conversation. "The SR3 is coming along fantastically. With Ms. Lawson working with us and Lieutenant Moreau on board it's been making significant strides to completion. Even better than the SR2, which was a point man of it's time as it was." That Shepard could agree on. Honestly she didn't think the SR2 would ever have a 3 come after it. The Reaper War seemed so final to her at times that she felt like she was fumbling into the continuation of the world for her. Though she didn't voice those concerns to anyone. "The SR3 is going to be primarily used for long expeditions into space. There are going to be a lot of colonies, human or otherwise, on outskirt planets that are going to be needing aid. That's the main directive at least."

Shepard nodded, fixing him with an almost cold look. As if she would be stupid enough to miss that hint, "What else?"

He paused, and Shepard explained herself. "You said main directive. Usually that means there are others."

Hackett cleared his throat, "Nothing gets past you, Commander. After a predetermined time frame, the SR3 is going to be assigned to a mission that hasn't even passed any color tape yet besides black." His face looked concerned for a moment as if they place he'd chosen lunch wasn't 'secure enough'. "The Salarians have discovered something of Reaper origin near their planet. Some sort planetary based relay if I understand the reports correctly."

Shepard's eyeballs all but popped out of her skull at this news, slowly setting down her spoon from stirring her drink.

"They're worried that it may lead to another galaxy, one that the Reapers were unaffected in. From their estimations, the Crucible was only able to reach as far as the relays were able to go; which eliminated the Reapers from our Galaxy. And perhaps didn't extinguish the threat entirely. The SR3 and it's crew would be sent on a scouting mission through this relay to the other side. Main objective is to see how bad the threat is. And if there is one, to find out how the gate works then shut it down to sever the connection entirely."

Shepard stared at him, a little in shock but quickly came out of it, "If this threat is real as the one here, we can't just sever the connection to another entire galaxy that is in danger… At least let us bring the same information we discovered here to them and maybe they can defend themselves!"

The Admiral shifted in his seat, "As I said, this mission still hasn't cleared anything to even take place and the SR3 hasn't been finished yet. Which comes back to you. What are your future plans?" What a change of subject that for the moment she was very unhappy making.

"Seems like you already know them. You wouldn't have told me the mission plans if you didn't have me in mind for commanding the SR3." The man sipped at the wine they were brought as their food was getting close to being ready.

"You have been over the last two SRs. It seems only fair that you would have first take on the third."

Shepard narrowed her eyes at him, "There were other candidates?"

Hackett told her calmly, "There has been a lot of rumors about you retiring. As you have the right to. Major Alenko was even a candidate." Well, at least one person she could live with. He leaned back, meeting her gaze. "I told you about this when you were in the hospital. The ladder is fine with you retiring, but they would rather just give you the promotion. If you want to stay in the action, they are willing to make that stride. So far you haven't given us an answer."

Her place was with the crew, that much was for certain. But did she really want to go back into the fight with Reapers. It had nearly killed her more than once at this point. That had never been on her mind before- never mattered until the job was finished. The promotion was the exact opposite of what she wanted. She didn't want to be the one buying someone a lunch. She felt pigeonholed into this just because she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she helped. Now she was glad Garrus hadn't come, he would have given Hackett an earful about this. "So much for not having a job for me." She muttered, "I need time to think. I'm taking a leave of absence to get some things straight. How much longer can you wait before you need an answer?"

He considered her words, "Until the SR3s completion." There was another moment and Hackett took a deep breath, "Shepard, I'll be honest with you. There was a time when I thought about retiring as well. But there is no retiring for people like us; too much Galaxy to save, too little time."

That caused a lead ball to fall into her stomach. "I'd like to see the Normandy." She asked, at least then she could see how far along the Normandy was now.

"Absolutely. You'll probably see a few familiar faces about. I'll pass along your response." He smiled at the food being brought to them. Shepard took a deep breath, forcing her own. How in Hell was she going to tell Garrus...


	8. Coffee

She was sick on her stomach as she walked out of the restaurant. Shepard slipped down several small walkways between buildings or shops built into the room. She knew where to meet Garrus by heart, but she was shaking now with her palms sweaty.

There was another universe. Another universe with Reapers. Another universe full of Andersons…

No not really, but people like Anderson. People like Garrus and Liara and Tali- Thane, Mordin, Ashley.

She was hyperventilating now, something she hadn't done since before she was in the Academy. Her eyes were rapidly flickering to the people she walked past who didn't spare her a glance. Her legs moved faster and she broke out into a run, bolting through inner sectors of rebuilt London. Past buildings that were ripped in half, past guards who looked up at her, construction workers and clean-up crews too. It had been more than a year and things were still in recovery.

"I'm losing it." She gasped, gripping hold of a brick wall to keep her upright and functioning when she was far away from other eyes now. "Deep breath." She told herself. "Breathe." Another reminder and she slid down the wall, her hoodie catching on the brick. For a moment it wasn't her voice in her head, it sounded like Garrus.

How could they expect her to ignore another galaxy of people she could lose. Maybe not the same person but it would still be the same situation. How could she retire and never say a word to anyone- because this was certainly a secret from the public. Panic would ensue knowing that there was a chance of the Reapers coming back… Even taking a promotion would be doing nothing. If she was going to live with herself, she'd go. But god… Garrus.

She felt as if she had taken things from him already. He was a fighter as much as she was. Put a gun in his hand and that one could hold off armies… he already had. Garrus would want to follow her and anyway she looked at this… there was no way they were coming back. Another entire galaxy of unknowns on top of the idea that the Reapers were destroying them. And if she did this her way, they'd go through the gate and try to save as many as possible. It would be reliving the Reaper War in it's fury. Her and everyone on her crew would undoubtedly die. Could she do that to Garrus again? To her crew and whoever else decided to ride this one way ticket. It's not like they hadn't before…

She sucked in breath, pushing her hands into her pockets and felt her phone vibrating. A wince crossed her face, seeing Garrus' name on top. Archangel Calling…

The redhead clicked the button on it, "Hey…"

His voice was a little airy, both with relief and worry that he still didn't know where she was. "Hey… I was wondering if I was getting stood up here."

She winced again, "I'm sorry, I'm on my way, I just got… a little caught up." She looked at the brick beside her, brushing the crumbled bits out of her hoodie fabric.

Garrus paused, "How did lunch go?"

She was quiet for a moment, lowering her eyes to the phone. She didn't know what on Earth to say to him. This would be something to talk about at home in their living room under a pile of blankets and pillows, like how they always talked about things lately. It was calm, safe, and very disgustingly domestic. It was a habit she wasn't planning on quiting either. Usually there was wine included and they would watch whatever was on the television for a few minutes- then mute it and talk for hours on end. That's how they worked through their problems. Either that or jumping right into them- they worked incredibly well together. On the battlefield and off…

Then why was it so damn hard to tell him…

"Shepard?"

The worry in his voice was clear, "Do you need me there?"

It nearly made her laugh, it was something that he started asking her when they were separate. It was a soft word phrase for if she was ever kidnapped. "No, Garrus. I'm on my way to meet you now."

He relaxed a little, "Talk then?"

Shepard sighed through her nose, "Maybe wait until we get home. Hackett gave me the hanger where they are building the SR3 on the Citadel. We should give it a look."

Garrus hummed his agreement and said a thank-you to someone he was checking-out with. Then added to her, "If that's what you want we'll wait. But don't dwell on it now, when we do talk about it, we'll figure it out."

Another smile came across her face, but this one didn't disappear. "Always know what to say, Vakarian."

xxx

About twenty minutes of jogging later, she ended up back where she needed to be. A fountain near the Memorial Wall was their original meeting place and Garrus sat on the edge, a small bag on his left and two cups in his talons. One was undoubtedly coffee, she could smell it at thirty feet. Garrus had learned early not to get in the way of her and a fresh brew. Something fruity was in the other one that Garrus did his best to drink from a straw. It made it a little easier.

"Hey…" She greeted and he nodded.

"Hey yourself, coffee?" He offered it to her and she took it with a word of thanks.

"Always know what to give me too." She sipped it, pushing her hair out of her face.

Garrus chuckled softly, turning to look at the buildings around them. "Got to like the architecture here. Great sniper perches everywhere."

She glanced around, but couldn't help but agree. "Not what they originally intended them for, I'm sure."

"You want to head back?" Garrus asked her after a few moments of quiet between them, used for people watching and sipping on their beverages.

"Probably a good a time as any." He nodded, picking up the small bag still on the edge of the fountain.

"What's in the bag?"

Garrus had his mandibles twitch, "A surprise. For later." Her brows went up, of all the people she knew, Garrus Vakarian wasn't the type to like surprises or give them to other people who didn't like them either. Call it a job qualification of their relationship.

"Alright, I trust you to not get me a fish."

That caused him to bark out a laugh, "No, I learned from that bad judgement. You worked out better with the Hamster though." She sighed, poor thing had seen a lot aboard that ship. Joker had adopted him after they got the cat, calling it animal safety. "Tough little guy."

"Least the cat is completely fine with space travel." He shrugged, "Next it'll be a dog or a thrasher maw. Don't tell Wrex."

Shepard shook her head with a shiver, she wasn't too keen on thrasher maws, "With my driving? We'd knock it out before getting it home." His and her hand were again, halfway in each other's directions- not that either of them minded. They stopped a few places that they saw something in the window of before heading back to the transport hub. Throwing away their cups and Garrus securing whatever the bag was in his jacket they were back on their way to the Citadel.


	9. The Normandy

It took her breath away. The Normandy SR-3 was much bigger than she had expected. As Garrus, her and a warrant officer made a very long elevator ride from where they first walked into the hanger down below the ship itself. It was at least twice the side of its predecessor. Even Garrus' jaw was a hanging open at the added weaponry and sleekness. One side of the ship wasn't even built yet, but they could tell from the skeletal frame it was going to be a force to be reckoned with. It was growing dark outside the Citadel with the shift for the Galactic night- they entered into a moons shadow. As the last light went out, giant floodlights that lined the top of the hanger made it day again for them riding in the elevator. Banging and power equipment rattled them slightly.

"We only usually repair ships here, but word came down from upper Command that they wanted to assemble this under the radar, Commander. That's why they took your phones at the entrance. You'll get them back when you go back up." She nodded, "Sounds like standard protocol to me. How far along is she?"

"About a year, ma'am. Would you and Adviser Vakarian like a full tour or take a look yourselves?"

Garrus gave Shepard a look, who chuckled, "I'm sure we can figure out our way around." She had been inside the first Normandy when it was being built, and had seen others be assembled as well.

"Make sure you wear your safety protection at all times and let one of the foremans know if you need something." He nodded and hurried off to a group of men waving him down.

"Wow." Shepard shook her head looking at it.

Garrus nodded, "Definitely put a little life back in her! Lot bigger than I remember though."

She agreed, walking with him toward the elevator to take them between floors. "Joker can manage it."

There was a map for workers and Garrus stared at the visible, "Main Battery."

She followed his gaze, snickering, "How about you go check on those calibrations. I know you've got the itch."

Garrus looked a little relieved, "Hey, do you know any other ship that can take out a Reaper in one shot?" Another laugh and he pecked her on the cheek.

"I won't take long, I promise. I'll just check and make sure that there isn't a Geth trying to raise my targeting but .3 percent or something." He shook his head like the idea was scandalous.

"How dare they." She half grinned at him, and gave a little wave as he went downward. She waited until it came back up for her and then went towards the first floor. The top was the Commander's quarters like before, but she didn't feel she needed to see that with everything else on her mind.

She rode the elevator up from where she was currently. The ride felt more familiar than she wanted to admit. She ran into a few crew members trip getting off on different floors. A few from the original Normandy that passed a greeting in her direction. Many of them simply assumed she was coming by to check out her new ship, and said just as much. She didn't tell them differently, still not knowing quite what she was going to do about it yet.

Engineer Donnelly and Daniels- Now Gabriella Donnelly, found her coming off the elevator on the first deck. "Oh Commander!" She greeted.

Kenneth nodded, "Wow, Commander! We didn't think you'd make it back!"

Gabby smacked him on the shoulder, "She doesn't need to hear that!"

He shrugged, "Sorry we weren't sure you would live." Gabby groaned, smacking herself in the face with her palm.

The Commander shook her head, chuckling at their banter. She had actually missed these two. "It's fine. How's the ship doing?" Changing the subject on them was always a good option.

"Fantastically, built for everything in the world you can think of and a little more." He grinned at his words.

Gabby rolled her eyes, "Almost everything is state of the art, Commander. If you'd like the diagnostic reports they've been having us run on the preliminary core I can send them to you."

The redhead nodded, "Actually yes, send me all the information you have on the ship."

Immediately Gabby pulled a pad from her back pocket and started typing. "Will do, Commander!" The said their goodbyes and Shepard ran her fingers along the wall as she walked. It echoed home to her.

She saw a familiar sight up ahead and came up behind EDI and Joker, who were standing side by side in the cockpit. Her body had been repaired from the damage it had taken when the Crucible had broken apart. Joker managed to disconnect her just in time to save her consciousness. At least Shepard had taken to calling it that. The AI had... gone far beyond what she had thought possible. The details were fuzzy, but they had kept it mostly to themselves about it. Garrus and her were the same in their private moments, so no one inquired too deeply. Joker was talking about moving his screens a little to the left from where she normally sat. Shepard chuckled, not interrupting their quiet talk. "I don't think that would be logical, Jeff. The monitors are the standard length and size for them to remain exactly where they are." It was worse than hearing a couple talk about drapes.

She turned back to the rest of the floor and wandered through several unfinished areas before ending up behind another familiar face. Short gray hair was nearly hidden under a hard hat as she handed a list of medical equipment to an ensign who stared blankly at it. "I need these from these locations. If they are out, I'll arrange another location for you to pick them up at." She waved them away as Shepard came up slowly behind her.

"Do you ever take leave, Dr. Chakwas?"

She turned around, a broad smile on her face, "There you are, Commander. And I think I did once, it was to follow you during the whole Cerberus fiasco."

Shepard nodded closing the distance between them, "It's good to see you, Doctor." They shook hands firmly and Shepard leaned against her desk as she took a seat. Now this was a familiar seat.

"This time sadly I don't have any brandy to celebrate the moment, have you been taking all your medications on time?"

"Garrus reminds me." She promised as the older woman pushed up the glasses on her nose. Those were new, but it made her look far more dignified. No matter how future advanced some people didn't take to lenses being put on the eye. Glasses kept coming back, except these were little pieces that floated in front of her eyes magnetically from two little electronics on her temples. They stayed on and dry no matter what happened. A much better improvement on older models that tended to slide off or get wet in the rain.

"Good, how is that going?" Shepard couldn't help but smile then, looking at the metal plating on the floor.

"Really… really…" She shrugged and went to say something positive but the memories from earlier came down a little bit too hard on her mind. "We're fine." She finally said and Chakwas stare practically burnt a hole in her head.

"Turian culture can be difficult at times-" She started to say but Shepard waved her off, "Really, we're fine. Just had a meeting with Admiral Hackett. I didn't hear about the ship being built until recently. It's all a lot to look at being away for so long."

The doctor nodded her understanding, "It is… I never thought I'd see another Normandy after this last war. I'm glad it's over… A lot of good soldiers were lost in that fight."

Shepard shook her head a little tiredly, feeling the full weight of that knowledge. "I'm sure you've heard if I made the right decision or not…"

She stood to collect clipboard from across the room, "Of course we hear rumors at everything that we're a part of. Last week I was told my head was dancing through a bar with a gorilla body." Chakwas gave her that understanding and gentle motherly smile, "I don't believe in listening to rumors, only looking at actions. And you made the right decision based on what you knew was the truth. The rest of the galaxy be damned."

Shepard blinked at her, Chawkas nodded once and sat down. It was almost the exact words she had been looking for the last year and a half. "I… I hadn't really thought of it that way."

She waved her on, "I've known you for too long to not see what regret looks like on your face. Garrus seems to be head over heels for you too. He passed by here earlier and stopped in."

Shepard shook her head a little, a soft sigh, "Go see him. Talk to him about what's bothering you. There is nothing like talking to your partner about what's on your mind."

Shepard nodded this time, standing up from her perch on the counter. She headed out the door, throwing over her shoulder on her way out. "I'll keep an eye out for that brandy, Doctor!"

A "Oh good!" slipped through before the airlock shut behind her.

Her feet were already headed back toward the elevator before she knew it. It was odd to have the Main Battery room separate from Medical, but made her way down none the less. A hallway that was still being plated stretched out before her. She stepped past a few other crewmen who were muttering about the Turian who had kicked them out of the battery room. She couldn't suppress the look on her face, a little prideful and a little exasperated. The airlock opened up at her presence and Shepard saw Garrus bent over the board in front of him.

God, wasn't that a familiar sight with how many times she bugged him to get his attention in the beginning. He turned his head around, pausing his fingers with the same look on his face.

"Well if that doesn't bring back memories." He purred, she crossed her arms with a small shake of her head.

"Calibrations?" She responded cheekily.

He shook his head, stepping toward her and bending down to steal a kiss. "No, seeing you look at me like that. Remember that time when our omni-tools all malfunctioned from that weird signal off Thessia? You came in talking about something in garble- then I turned around and roared at you. We both panicked."

Shepard snorted a laugh, "I've never thrown something out of my hand in a scare before. The pad I had bounced off the ceiling I jumped so hard." He had been walking her back inside the room farther until they were close enough to the console, he picked her up and set her on it.

She ran her fingers over his crest and cheek. "What is it?" Her voice was soft and he kissed her.

"I love you so much. I remember a lot of times we talked about the end in this room, I'm more than happy we have a beginning here too." Garrus nuzzled her.

"We had a lot of first times in the battery of my ship." She smirked, kissing him back. "We had a lot of other first times a lot of other places too." Her hands trailed down his chest, "Do you know if that door lock-"

Commander! You should have said something that you were here! I would have showed you around! This place is awesome right? EDI is integrated into everything but the steering wheel and-!" Jokers voice made them jump, her voice a little tense. "Did you need something, Joker?"

"Oh ho ho- Am I interrupting something there-"

"Yes." Garrus said and they were laughing again.

"Oh jesus- Didn't need that image- Great- EDI where did you put the mental soap?"

"Jeff, I've warned you of-" The line cut off.


	10. Playing House

They had been sitting in the transport vehicle for almost twenty minutes at this point. Shepard with another cup of coffee in her hands, stared out the opposite window. Garrus was in line with the others waiting for a turn into a busy stream of traffic. They hadn't talked much after leaving the Normandy; both seem to be lost in their thoughts. The redhead sipped carefully, seeing groups of families past them by in taxis. She had tried to purposefully put off the conversation about what they were going to do until they got home. It gave her time to decide on something she wanted to do… which at the moment it didn't look like any option was something she could live with.

If she retired, her entire world would be much calmer. She could walk away from the screaming in her dreams, right? Shepard had done her time and did her job the best she could. Garrus had brought up the idea of adopting eventually; so was retirement what he wanted for them? To take up his Advisors position on Palavin and she'd… what would she do? Become a housewife? Learn how to cook Turian meals and make house. That idea caused her to wince, and Hackett's voice floated back to her like an annoying mosquito buzz. "There isn't retirement for people like us." Her fingers started to rotate the cup between her thighs. She could finally have a family though- something that she had written off a long time ago as not being able to have. A little Turian and maybe a human too, hell just adopt a Krogan just for the fun of it. But then again, could she even process being a parent? She knew how to nail a collector at seven hundred yards… but raising kids? That was a terrifying thought.

So what if she went with the promotion? Sure, she'd have enough money in the world to take care of however many kids that Garrus decided they could bring home. Shepard had a somewhat bad habit of adopting everything in sight according to some of her friends. But unless Garrus gave up his Advisor position on Palavin, there wouldn't be a way to really see each other. Not to mention the social stigma they would have to deal with- which didn't bother her as much as anything else did. The promotion meant money and safety… but it would also mean she would make those calls to leave entire universes to the Reapers. Political bullshitting wasn't on her résumé either.

Shepard sighed softly and Garrus glanced over at her, "Want some music?"

"I'm fine." She offered him a small smile as she looked down at the lid and rubbed the liquid off her fingertips.

Then there was taking command of the Normandy again. Of course, she knew that Garrus would immediately go with her at the drop of a hat. But he had so much here for him. A new career on Palavin, his family, a whole life ahead of him… She had really wanted to be a part of that. The worry crept over her thoughts. Garrus would still argue, and come with her to whatever this other universe had to offer them. And if it was just as bad of a mission she imagined it was going to be- they wouldn't make it back to have that family life they wanted.

What was the best response for both of them? Normandy would put her back where she thought she belonged… besides, she couldn't live with herself abandoning another galaxy still living the nightmare of the Reapers. Even if they came back… Garrus would be transferred back to Palavin; they weren't in the same military… and could be sent a galaxy apart. No pun intended.

Suddenly the transport jerked and she caught her coffee from flying out of her seat with her. "Whoa-" She did a double-take at him, seeing an awful determined look on his face. "Did you forget something?"

Garrus shook his head, driving them below the lines of traffic and toward the pavilion that they had been on a few days ago. "I think I have everything I need."

Her eyebrows raised but she said nothing as they came slowly down and parked. "Starting to worry me a little." Shepard muttered as Garrus got out of the transport and opened her door. He offered his hand to her and she took it, knowing he liked to do this every so often. It made a girl feel special. "What's going on, Garrus?" She asked as he led her toward the spot where they had practiced shooting on. There was still a smear of pink and blue from their targets.

The turian shifted a little, clearing his throat. "So- I had an entire speech prepared for this. But I can't get it right in my head so I'm just going to say it and I hope everything comes out the way it's supposed to." Her arms crossed in front of her, listening to him with a concerned expression on her face. It was a little chilly in the night cycle on the Citadel and Garrus swallowed. It reminded her of when they had first spent a night together in her quarters- he had been so nervous. "I've known you for years. I've never stopped loving you. You have just-" He blinked, looking up at the stars for answers.

She grew increasingly worried until another rock dropped in her stomach. "Oh my god, he's breaking up with me…" Shepards face tried to be impassive but it wasn't working very well.

This would make her decision easier to make but- but-, "Look Turian culture is really different doing this. You usually just- say something about it and-?" Garrus sighed a bit angrily at himself as Shepard seemed frozen to the spot.

"Okay..." She started to say and the other seemed to steel himself.

"You know what. The vids were old anyway." Garrus pulled out a box out of his inner jacket and held it between them for a moment. "I'm Garrus Vakarian, and this is my favorite spot on the Citadel… but I'd rather it be our favorite spot though." He opened up the box as he got down on one knee.

A silver band with blue stones in it- the stones were all cut elegantly. It was so simple and still was gorgeous. Her jaw fell open and she stared at him, unable to really comprehend what he was doing for a moment. "Marry me?" He asked and Shepard couldn't stop shaking.

It took a moment to regain movement of her neck to nod. She dropped on her knees to kiss him, hands going to cup his face, "Yes- Absolutely yes!"

So what if the concept of marriage was a bit outdated, sure. Many didn't bother with it anymore or only reserved it for very traditional families. But whatever equivalent it was in Turian culture, she wanted to be it.

And like a car screeching to a halt, she pulled back. "Oh my GOD, Garrus! No-! I mean- Yes I do but maybe- Shit!" She swore and Garrus' eyes were wide, their arms were still wrapped around each other.

Shepard moaned, putting her head on his shoulder. "Hackett gave me another mission but this one is… is bigger than us again- and it's a suicide mission-! We can't-"

Garrus pulled back, listening through her panic. He quieted her, running his talons through her hair. "This is what you've been worried about all day? Relax…" She simmered down, searching his gaze, "When do we leave?" Shepard blinked at him, a small disbelieving shake of her head.

There was that loving look again, "I can get married on a ship. I rather like the Normandy. Suicide missions are in our forte anyway- hell, if we find someone brave enough I don't care if we get married in the middle of a firefight. Just as long as you're there. There is no Vakarian without Shepard." He seemed completely unworried about the mission she had just dropped on him. Garrus stroked her cheek, "And… hate to break the moment but we might want to go."

He pointed behind her at a group of mildly irritated C-Sec officers, including Captain Bailey, staring at them from the railing above. Some of them were whistling at them or clapping at the engagement.

"Get a room!" One Turian yelled and Shepard snorted, turning away from the group, "I want to marry you, Garrus. The yes is a real yes... But this mission is a lot worst odds than what we've had before."

Garrus lifted them both up and he kissed her, leveling his gaze with hers, "We can handle it. Together. Let's go home and look at the big picture. Then we'll figure out where to go from there." He took the ring and slipped it onto her finger.

"Should I ask how you got my ring size?" She didn't wear rings often.

Garrus answered her calmly, "I know what rifle you use, and your favorite guard. Not much guess work from there."


	11. HI

TURIAN-HIERARCHY-NAVY: COMMUNICATION TOWER 11 MESSAGE MARKED: URGENT

PRIORITY ORDER: 03777A-1

ENCRYPTION CODE: BLUE-5

PUBLIC KEY: RESTRICTED FILE - NO PUBLIC KEY AVAILABLE

FROM: ARCHANGEL

TO: WINGS

SUBJECT: HI

CLASSIFICATION: RESTRICTED

02:32: G: Hey, someone's up late.

02:34: S: Couldn't sleep. Work stuff. How'd that thing go?

02:34: G: Fishing for dad, or actually interested?

02:36: S: It's not a big secret anymore. You haven't left her side since the end of the war. Still such high security on our chats? The war is over, Garrus.

02:37: G: You know why, don't you?

02:38: S: I'm not an idiot. I know why… just wish you could have come back home for a while. I know why for her and the security too.

02:39: G: I guess dad didn't tell you then. How's mom?

02:40: S: Better, surprisingly. Someone donated a huge amount of money to the center she was in. Didn't give a name either. I'm glad she's home now though. Dad didn't tell me what?

02:42: G: I'm glad they helped. Don't worry about it. I'm coming for a visit soon. I heard you got a new job?

02:42: S: You're coming back to Palaven? No dad didn't tell me that! Yeah, it's in shipping. Boring.

02:43 S: Is she coming?

02:44: G: Of course. It's now or never. Literally- something else has come up.

02:46: S: You know dad's gonna be pissed. What now?

02:48: G: Look, get to know her first before making a call.

02:49: S: Okay, okay. Wasn't trying to step on your crest, Garrus. Just, tell him gently. He doesn't hate humans but I don't think he really planned on having one in the family. I'm guessing she said yes then.

02:51: G: He's just going to have to get used to it then. She said yes.

02:52: S: Congrats then. I guess I could do worst for sister-in-laws. If I ever have to take down a giant planet destroying evil race I know who to call.

02:53: G: Let's keep that down to a minimum while we're visiting. We can't carry more than three bags of guns on a transport.

02:55: S: Ha! Good answer. Regardless of the whole chaos that's going to ensue when you get here, I'm really glad you're coming home.

02:56: G: Me too, Sol. It's long coming.

02:57: S: Bring me something nice from the Citadel.

02:58: S: See ya.

02:59: G: Night.

/END TRANSMISSION: APPROVED MESSAGE WILL DELETE IN …01


	12. Liaison Talks

They would be lying if they said they weren't wrapped around each other for more than warmth. But they were there, bags in tow, at their apartment door later that evening. Garrus unlocked it, and they were greeted by a purring cat twirling himself between their legs. They were silent as they dropped their bags in their bedroom and started to relocate every pillow in the apartment into their living room. Trinket joined them on a rather fluffy pillow at the end of their makeshift fort. One of the perks of being an adult, making a pillow fort with your lover and then drinking in it. While Shepard changed into something more comfortable, Garrus set them up for the first round of alcohol. Tonight was definitely going to be a drinking night for the both of them. Celebrating a little, talking a lot.

She caught his eye as she descended down the stairs. Only wearing a pair of shorts and a tank-top, her hair put up off her neck. His eyes trailed down her shoulders and toned biceps. She was built from years of wearing heavy armor and training. Her scars were obvious and he didn't complain; he cocked his head to the side as she came down into the living room. Shepard felt his gaze on her, turning to him. "Like what you see?"

He capped the bottle of scotch he got for her, putting it down and leaning forward to set the glass on the island that separated them in their kitchen. The redhead sipped it, sighing at the taste that washed down her throat. "Smooth." She complimented.

Garrus drank from his own drink, "Thankfully I know alcohol as well as I do calibrations." He walked around the island and stripped down too.

A flicker of smile came over her face, "Because one's the response to too much of the other?"

"Something like that." Garrus took his place on the mound of pillows and Shepard brought over their pads to check their messages. They were going to ease into the night before discussing things. It would more than likely take a while once they started. Shepard turned on the television for background noise; it was pre-programmed to turn on to the news. Garrus took his pad from her with a word of thanks, and was rapidly typing for the next several minutes. Shepard didn't pay too much attention, staring at the television to read the lines on the bottom of the screen. Nothing flashed across for breaking news about her engagement, so that was a plus. Not that she would mind if they knew, but she knew what it meant…

They spent nearly an hour like this until Garrus set down his pad. They were both two drinks in and their legs intertwined with a blanket over them. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, "So… talk?" He asked softly, his nose temporally buried in her hair to kiss the space behind her ear. She hummed quietly and put the television on mute. Shepard took a deep breath, and started to recount her entire lunch with Hackett. His face tried to stay impassive but twisted with distaste as she continued. She told him about her choices that he had given her and waited on the much larger news to tell later. They would deal with this one step at a time.

Garrus sat back, eyes narrowed a distant spot in the room, "Definitely didn't stick to you being on medical leave, did he."

She shrugged, "It's important, Garrus. Or he wouldn't have brought this all up. I need to make a decision."

The Turian adjusted a pillow behind him, nodding. "I agree. So… retiring." He said the word a little wistfully, "You know, after we got together… It was a great fantasy to think of the war being over and us somewhere tropical. But I never thought I'd actually get it."

He looked at her and she nodded, "Me too… And now that the war is over, I'm not sure where we're going from here."

Garrus thought about that for a few moments before looking out a window they had. It was still open to look out to the stars. "As much as I want us to be finally done with all the blood- the risk of losing you- I'm not sure retirement really equals peace for us. I can be married to you anywhere, Shepard. If retirement is really what you want, I'll start house shopping. Otherwise…"

Shepard wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her chin on top of them. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. "I'm starting to realize that retirement isn't what I want…"

Garrus looked at her calmly as she held up a finger, "But it's not for the reasons you think."

He cocked his head to the side, "Spending the rest of my life with you is beyond what I'd think I'd get. And one day, I wouldn't mind finding out you're exactly the amazing father I'd imagined you to be. I'm just not ready for kids and a house right now. Or being a housewife- or learning how to knit-" She was interrupted by Garrus gently closing the distance between them to steal a kiss.

"As much as I think I could rock a turtle neck sweater… I think all of that can wait until you and I are both ready."

She ran her fingers over his cheek, kissing him again. "And the promotion?" She asked him in a whisper.

"I think you deserve the biggest office they can find and a brand new sniper rifle with a manual beside it mounted on the wall but if we want to stay together…"

Shepard sighed, "Yeah, the Palaven military will want to keep you planet side and I doubt the Alliance would let me stray from that new office."

Garrus nodded, running his fingers over her wrist. "If we're married they might try to make an exception for us."

She shook her head, "With how much bias there is between our races? If I was an Asari they wouldn't have a problem."

Garrus brushed a thumb over her chin when she looked away. "Besides, I couldn't make the choices that Hackett makes…" His brow raised a little, and she searched his eyes. "There is something else Hackett and I talked about." Garrus' look shifted to concern.

And now she couldn't look him in the eye as she told him what was really worrying her. Shepard ran her fingers through her hair before Garrus had pulled her into his lap midway through this retelling. She tucked her head underneath her chin, running her fingers over the collar bone she was resting against. "I have the option of not going… but I can't get the thought out of my head that the Reapers could come back at any time through that gate. If we can go through, they come our way too. And right now, someone's war isn't over with them. I know this… this is big- there are so many unknowns in this, Garrus. But I can't just turn a blind eye…" Garrus stroked her back with his thumb.

"He played on you and I really want to have a one on one conversation with him about that." He growled out the words, "He knew you wouldn't be able to live with yourself knowing about this. That is just so… so…"

She kissed the inside of his throat, in a calming gesture. "I know…"

Garrus hugged her close to him, "But I can't say I can't agree." He blinked out at the stars, this information sitting with him like it had with him. "Another universe with Palaven, another Tali, Solana, mom and dad… you." He reached over and sipped at his drink with a shake of his head.

She turned his head back to look back at her, "That's the kind of thought that got me into this mess."

He returned his hands to her. "I'm up for making sure that whatever Vakarian in the next universe gets to stick with their Shepard." She kissed him, this time more passionately than before. He pulled back for breath, "Keep kissing me like that and I may not make it through this conversation." She kissed him again, this one more deeply. Garrus' hands wandered.

"It's pretty obvious at this point that I'm following you anywhere right?" Garrus asked her, their faces still very close.

"Even to another galaxy, huh? Well you did just ask me to marry you." Shepard murmured back, swinging herself across his lap. His hands went to her hips, thumbs rubbing love words into her skin.

"Well there is that. We might as well make this cross species liaison permanent" He chuckled, "I love you."

She rested her head against his, "I love you too."


	13. Pictures

The moment she stepped off the transport, she knew Garrus hadn't told his parents that she were coming. She had pushed her hair out of her face and sunglasses; it was a little windy today on Palavin, to see Garrus' family for the first time. Garrus was right behind her coming off the transport and walking out onto the platform in the main station hub. A mechanical voice spoke off times and delays in a drone. Holding both of their bags in each hand, he seemed to still slightly at the sight of them. She blinked at the expression on his parent's faces and then the look of embarrassment on Solana's. Castis, Garrus' father, stood a little taller than his son did; remembering oddly now that Garrus was not completely matured for a Turian. Unlike humans who did most of their growing early in life, Turian spaced out more evenly like the Asari. She winced at the thought that she was like Garrus' mother in Turian eyes. She was almost five years older than Garrus, who just turned twenty-eight.

Solana was the shortest of all of them, though stood still nearly a foot over Shepard's head. Garrus ushered them closer and she gave a small wave. While Castis came forward with his wife, "Glad to see you took me wanting to see you to heart, Garrus." He greeted then glanced at Shepard, "And this is the Commander I've heard so much about."

Garrus nodded, a little hopeful in his expression. "Yes, this is Cassander."

Shepard looked up at him, offering her hand. "It's good to meet you, Mr. Vakarian." She didn't want to be too formal at first with the look she'd just gotten from him.

He didn't comment on it, and took her hand with a firm one. "This is my wife, Vetra." The woman beside him shook her hand as well. She was different from her husband interestingly enough. The markings on her face were the same shade of blue, but were different in nature than her husband's or her sons. More than likely she was from another colony of Turians- which she found a little interesting since Garrus had once said the different colonies didn't see eye to eye much. She glanced at Garrus; not being able to help but notice that Garrus couldn't actually complete his set of markings thanks to the scar damage on his face.

Vetra was extremely thin beside her husband and father, but she had the most brilliant eyes Shepard had probably seen on a Turian. Then again, she hadn't really gotten this close to too many Turians. Was that a reflection of her Corpalis Syndrome, which only started to recently improve?

Vetra's voice was softer, with that same reverberation as her kin. Though it seemed a little smoother if Shepard had to name the difference. "Finally, I get to see the woman my son has told me so much about. It's an honor." Her head bowed slightly to her and Shepard cleared her throat to say something.

Castis interrupted with a gesture for them to leave. "The next transport will be arriving soon. We'll talk more on the way home." Garrus nodded, giving Shepard a reassuring look.

His voice dropped as his parents and sister went on ahead of them, Solana grabbed one of their bags from Garrus with a punch in the arm as she went, "You put on that sunblock stuff from Liara right?"

She gave him a small smile, "Don't worry, I remembered. I'm not going to get irradiated."

Castis called back, "Garrus, come here for a moment." Shepard nodded for him to go to see his father and she got the remaining bags off the stack they had. She had a small smile on her face as Garrus hugged his mother when he joined them.

Shepard didn't mean to wander, but the tension in the air around them in the kitchen seemed intoxicating in a bad way. As if the ride to their home hadn't been silent enough when it came to her. Castis discussed a few things with Garrus; plans while they were there, where they were staying… And she had been surprised to realize that Garrus' family lived so far out of the city- only to be reminded that Palavin got some of the worst attacks because of their massive army. The Reapers had sent most of their forces here knowing this… And now a lot of Turians lived either off planet, or were busy trying to rebuild on what was left. She kept it her head though to not go too far into the Vakarian home, Garrus' parents had definitely already made their statements on her when she had arrived.

Their home was very… minimalistic. There was color everywhere- but the furniture was incredibly sparse. Or maybe it was simply the house was bigger than she imagined. Garrus had almost a good two feet on her, so perhaps this was the normal Turian house size… Either way, apparently the entire set up of a house was different too for Turians. The house was built with one long hallway that ran down the center of it. As soon as one walked in they would see a kitchen to the right and a dining room to the left. No family room that she could see. A little farther down a spiral staircase went upwards, then bedrooms in the back of the house. Where she stood in the hallway, it was wall to wall with pictures. They were all moving in three or four second videos for her. All of them were from Garrus' past. Him trying to play what looked like baseball to her. Birthdays… Graduations… She wondered if the Turians valued the entire situation in their photos rather than a single moment that human's seem to cherish in photographs.

"We've changed your room into an armory downstairs instead of the attic. Seemed smart to move the weapons closer." Castis informed his son.

Garrus almost looked relieved, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll be fine in a hotel."

His mother interrupted them, "Absolutely not, you're family and you're staying here." She gave Castis a look, "Did you make up the guest house already?"

Garrus cocked his head to the side, "Guest house? When did-?" He looked out the kitchen window and his face looked a little… well, she didn't actually know what to call that expression. Put-out? "You made the garage a guest house." It wasn't a question.

Castis nodded, "Pet project after I retired." Garrus gave him another look before sighing through his nose. If they wanted him to sleep outside they could have just told him.

"We wouldn't want to impose." Shepard said, peeking back from the in the hallway. She saw no problem with a garage; it had been one of the nicer places she'd slept…

"Nonsense." Vetra said again, patting her son on the arm. "Go put your luggage away and I'll order something. We should celebrate you coming home."

xxx

On the warm walk across the yard toward a smaller building, Shepard glanced at Garrus. "You didn't tell them did you?"

Garrus opened the door for them, his voice both soft and a touch of anger in it, "I thought it wouldn't have had to be said I was bringing my fiancé to visit with me."

She brought everything inside and turned to look at him, "Do they know about that too?" Her arms crossed, wondering if they even knew if they were together at this point.

"They knew I was seeing you, yes. But I was hoping they'd get to know you a little before I broke that news."

Shepard looked down at the floor once they were inside, noting how the room was still not very far along than a garage, "I wasn't expecting a welcome party but I didn't know they hated me right off the bat."

The Turian turned on a light that washed over the room. They had at least put a bed in the room for them. The bathroom off to the side was new and there was a dresser- but most of the other usual garage objects were piled in one corner. "They don't hate you- they're just… surprised, apparently."

Shepard removed her toiletry bag and put it in the bathroom, shrugging, "Well it's not like I haven't been in this situation before." She muttered to herself.

"Give them time. They'll warm up." Garrus promised her, stopping in the doorway. More embarrassed that his family was acting like they were than she knew. Shepard had a lot of experience being in places she wasn't wanted in for the time being… so gave him one of those small understanding smiles.

"I just won't outshoot any of you, should make them happy." Garrus huffed a laugh, going back into their 'bedroom'.


	14. A Garlub Ga-Ru-Lob -A blue bulb carrot

Over the next couple days, Shepard had learned quite a few things. She should have brought bug spray, she didn't like the heat as much as she thought she did, and Liara deserved a giant gift basket for the lotion she'd given her. The redhead wasn't sure what else to call it, since Liara hadn't given her a name. Liara simply had it delivered to their apartment in the Citadel the day they were leaving- Garrus swore that Liara was watching them somehow which only made Shepard laugh. It wouldn't surprise her in the slightest.

But more importantly, the mixture had definitely made sure she hadn't burnt to a crisp under the Turian sun… but still had to admit the heat had left her in a constant state of sweat. She had missed a spot behind her ear this morning and it had blistered within a few hours.

Thankfully Vetra had something for it, saying Garrus had sensitive skin himself as a child. If he had been in earshot she knew he would have groaned to his mother about telling Shepard about that. She tried not to touch the cooling solution on her ear that was sticky and definitely felt more wonderful than it smelled. Garrus was outside with Solana and Castis- repairing something that she wasn't sure what it did let alone what it was. Vetra hummed to herself as she flipped through a cookbook across from her.

Vetra knew some incredibly good human Turian combinations, and had introduced Garrus to his first chicken meal after a short grocery shopping trip the day after they arrived. "Now I see why everything in the Galaxy supposed to taste like it. It's good." He had commented at dinner and most of the Vakarians had agreed. Shepard watched her for a while, following her instructions to sit still for a bit and let it dry behind her ear.

Vetra, though thin and frail, was recovering fairly well from her illness. She ordered out for her family one night, and tried to cook the next- much to Castis' soft displeasure. If Shepard could know anything about the man besides his dislike for her personally, Castis loved his wife unconditionally. Garrus and his father were similar in those ways, at least. "Can you teach me some Turian dishes sometime?" She asked quietly as Vetra stirred a pot of meat she didn't recognize.

The spoon slowed and Vetra turned her head back to look at her, "I suppose so. I'm looking at trying to make this one for us tonight. Come here, I'll show you a thing or two. It'll keep your hands busy."

Shepard got off the stool in the kitchen on the other side of the island to make her way around it. "Do you like to cook?" Vetra asked, setting aside a strange looking vegetable.

The redhead made a face, "I'm actually terrible at it, but I've been trying to improve."

The elder smiled, "Solana is too. Some women were simply not born with the silver spoon in their hand. I do well enough, but then again I had culinary classes when I was younger. Castis is actually better than me, but never can get eggs right." She smiled at Shepard, who couldn't hide the one forming on her face.

"Garrus must have definitely learned it from somewhere. He's amazing behind a stove, but then again there isn't too many things he isn't good at. I can cut that for you-." She interjected the last part as Vetra pulled a knife from a block-like object and handed it to Shepard.

"From the stem down." She told her and Shepard stepped beside her to use the cutting board.

"What did you do before retiring, Mrs. Vakarian?"

The taller huffed, "Please, don't listen to my husband being so formal. Call me Vetra. Mrs. Vakarian makes me feel old." Shepard nodded, "I was what you might call a librarian. I cataloged and kept records for the military academy nearby."

She was a little surprised by Vetra, the thought that Garrus Vakarian's mother was a librarian. Well Anderson always told her to watch the quiet ones... "That must have been quite a job with the population count. Isn't this one of the largest cities on Palavin? Did you graduate from there?"

She nodded, "The city was once, I'm sure it will be again- not to mention I had help with the records, not something someone could handle by themselves." She took the pot off the stove, "I was an alumni… After I did a tour I came back to teach to make sure our past and future remained secure. I met Castis while I worked there; he was on an investigation. Was one of the first younger officers I had seen actually read records that might help him with a case. A lot of the newer officers were ready to brawl, not read at the Academy. We were like... brains and brawn; but I could still take him in a fight almost." She chuckled, "I thought he was quite dashing." She looked up and her face softened, catching sight of Castis through the window of the kitchen.

They fell silent and she went back to humming. Shepard couldn't help smiling to herself in that, it was clear the bond between the two of them. Even though Castis was gruff and tumble at times, didn't mean he was void of love. She continued to cut the vegetable from the stem down, almost like a carrot besides it's lime blue hue and roundness.

"It's so funny to see them now." Vetra hummed after a moment, seeing her children following behind their father. Solana was pestering Garrus, who was very calmly ignoring her like this was a normal thing.

"Solana had always been a bit of a wild child. Always into a fight, such that I would hope she took after her father. But Garrus?" She turned back to her cooking, "Never found the line, let alone crossed it." Shepard almost found that hard to believe. "And when he came home last, explaining to my husband that he had been a vigilante... I knew something that changed in his life."

Her hard, beautiful eyes turned on Shepard and the woman froze in the spot. It was probably the few times in her life she had. "But… I know my son." Vetra said, still stirring the second pot and adding a spice or two without looking at it. "More than my husband does, at times. And if he did it, he did it for the right reasons. He brought you here, then you're not the reason he stopped coming home."

Shepard slowed in her peeling, taking a deep breath. "I'm not the reason he chose that path. But I can say he did do it for the right reasons. I understand what he did, and will do, if he has to." That was hint alone that there were still people who knew Archangel, and that still knew her too. Vetra nodded once, accepting that answer.

And the moment of tenseness was over, and Shepard let out a pint up breath she didn't know she had been keeping. And she had dared think Vetra as brittle when they had first met. "What are you twos plan for the future? Will you stay here on Palavin, or Earth?" Talk about hitting with the hard questions.

The redhead took a slow breath, carefully choosing her response. "Well, Garrus and I talked about starting a family once. Though not where we would live." She let that hang for a moment. "There is the obvious problem of biology… but before the Reaper War ended we mentioned we might try adopting one day."

Vetra hadn't said a word so Shepard continued, "People say crazy things before they run off to war. But honestly I don't think I lied when I said I wouldn't mind having a family with Garrus. There are a lot of orphans out there from this war that need a home." There was always a lot of orphans after wars… it was just the fact of life now. She was one of them in a way. "I don't care if they are Turian or Human either. Either way, I would definitely want you all involved." –It was only fair in her mind.

Vetra nodded, and for a moment Shepard wondered if she was checking off a mental list, "I'm glad you give it the weight it so rightly deserves. Having children is a big step, and I know what my husband says… but you will always have a home here- while I still breathe at least."

She smiled, her hands going to her second knife and another cutting board. "Garrus will make a good father when you both come to that bridge. Do let me know though, I have a ton of Garrus' old baby clothes."

A small cracked her passive face, imagining what a Turian onesie might look like, "Absolutely, Vetra." She promised, feeling for the first time she was actually being included in something of this family.


	15. Flout

"So you're not going to tell me either, are you?" Solana sipped at her drink, blinking up at the hot Turian sun. People were busily walking around them in the shopping center, employees restocking stores and customers mingled together. It would have reminded her of the Citadel if it wasn't so fucking hot. Shepard stood under a small tree offering her half the shade she needed, wide brim sunhat and sunglasses cooling things down a few degrees for her- so she had been told. If she didn't get the equivalent of a burnt toast color tan from this place, it would be a miracle.

"Tell you what?" Shepard glanced up at her, wondering why Solana had chosen this spot to have a look of the purple fountain in front of them. Earlier that day Solana had made the mention of letting Garrus have some alone time with their parents and she would show Shepard the city.

She had agreed, feeling it was only right to have at least sometime without her making Castis go practically silent. That was really starting to get annoying four days later. They were spending a week, they had all agreed really without her involvement on that either. Solana's head turned to her, "My brother went dark for a while. I understand why, it's obvious. I've heard my brother's codename tossed around in my department. I may not like it, but I want to understand it." She didn't have the same stare as her mother did.

Shepard let out a slow breath, "If you know about it, what's exactly so hard to understand?" She winced at her words internally, the heat was making her crabby and she made a note to at least attempt an apology earlier. Turians weren't big on that.

Solana heard the note in her voice too and pointed them toward a little café shop it Shepard had to guess. It was shaded with fans so she went willingly. "My brother and I talked awhile back, when he was… doing whatever."

She started and then paused, "I said somethings I shouldn't have. He'd just lost his job and he was too proud to talk to dad about it… Mom was so sick at the time. I didn't hear from him again after that night."

Solana ordered for them, "Garrus told me you liked coffee. It's iced." She interjected and Shepard might have kissed her.

"I started hearing about a group of Turians trying to make things right… and then what happened to them. I know- I just know that he was a part of them. I've spent my entire life watching him shoot. I could pick my brother out of all the vids that went up."

She took a deep breath, "When he came back, I saw the names scratched into his visor. Erash, Monteague, Mierin, Krul, Melenis, Ripper, Sensat, Vortash, Butler, Weaver; Sidonis was scratched out and Shepard was put on the last space..."

"Then Archangel showed up after that, except there wasn't vids this time. There wasn't anyone left alive to take one."

She wouldn't meet Shepard's gaze. "Next thing I know a lot of debt we had helping mom was paid off. And the research facility we had her at got this anonymous donation." Solana finally looked at her, "Was that him? Did what I said really make him go nearly get himself killed? He'll never tell me and I'm not sure I want to know. But for a while until he came back I thought I got my brother killed."

She actually seemed physically stricken by the idea. The redhead knew the older sibling mentality well, she'd seen a lot of siblings be torn apart by the war.

She sipped out of her straw for a moment longer, "Solana, it isn't my place to say what he did." She said it softly, seeing Solana's eyes look a bit panicked, "But I know that he would have done anything to help. And he'd do it again, regardless if you told him to. Don't feel guilty about it, just remember it."

Solana nodded, leaning back in her seat they'd walked to in the conversation. "He really saved her life though." The Turian added, her shoulder shrugging. "Garrus hasn't been the same since. He seemed stronger than he was. So maybe it was a good thing all of it happened, but I'm still mad at myself for what I said. I should have been more supportive."

"Tell him that one day." Shepard answered her, offering a small smile. "Our dad sees it too." The redhead held her tongue on that though. "And I know he's happy about it, and he doesn't really hate you."

Shepard sighed, patience starting to go on the subject. "Yes, he does. It's very obvious. He's making his son and I sleep out in the garage, he hasn't said more than, 'hello', 'no', 'yes', and 'move', to me since day two. And I think the 'hello' was more out of Turian standards than it was to actually notice my existence."

Her mouth shut immediately and she put her head in her hand, "I'm sorry- I'm hot and I'm frust-" Solana waved her off, "No- no- you're really right. Mom's talked to me about it and we're not cool with it either. Look, he doesn't hate humans- it's not- It's like, he's fine with them he just doesn't really want one in the family." She tried to smile but it didn't quite make it.

Shepard stared at her. That was still the same thing in her mind and she set down the coffee. "And you guys just expect me to be okay with that? He doesn't want me in the family at all because I'm a human? God, so much for trying to get on his good side. At least I know he has one now, it's just apparently off limits to me." The sass just came bubbling out and Solana nodded again,

"Yeah- we didn't think it would be this bad. He's talked about you with respect and then Garrus hinted at it and-" She sighed, "He started talking about how we were gonna lose our culture if we started 'mixing' with them. He was super pissed off when the first Asari-Turian baby was born. That was weird."

The redhead groaned softly, Solana rose her finger, "So I guess it's more like, he doesn't hate you as a person he just hates anyone not Turian dating Turians." Shepard shrugged, "And this is… good for me?"

"Yes!" Solana said a little too loudly, "Because if I can talk my dad out of how crazy his idea is of how Turian culture is being destroyed; he'll stop being so cranky after that." She sighed through her nose, absolutely finding no hope in this plan. "Fine, if you can do that I'll start getting you discounts at ammo stores."

Solana perked up so much that Shepard laughed. "Just ignore dad back until I get to really pick his brains. And I'll move a heater out into the garage if it helps." She waved her hands, "Oh no- we're fine on that. No heaters- please!" Then they were both laughing, "Okay, blankets for Garrus and a fan for you."

Shepard could agree to that at least, "That might be better, he already steals the covers anyway." She shook her head, "Honestly I don't know how this is going to go with your dad. But I'm with Garrus now, that's not going to change. If it really bothers him that much I'll go. Garrus can spend the rest of his week here with you guys. I know he misses you."

Solana sighed, "It shouldn't be like that though. Dad's being really rude about it- probably the worst I've ever seen him. Maybe he just gets grumpier with age. The only one that talks sense into him is mom. Maybe I should get her in on this too..." She wondered aloud and Shepard smiled, "I think she already is. But it couldn't hurt, I guess." Who knew, maybe Solana had a point.


	16. Lavender

She started the morning the same way almost every day. With a run, every time they were planet side at least. The few of her crew that knew; they surprisingly didn't comment on it. No matter if it was snowing or they had a hurricane about to blow-in wherever they were. Which had happened once, believe it or not. Shepard would get up before dawn, and sprint for a good two hours before she came back home, sweaty and out of breath; but completely alive. She couldn't hide her grin, and that was what he loved about her. Among everything else, of course.

Garrus watched her blast past him from his seat on the window ledge of the garage. They had elected to start making the guest house more… for guests, by themselves. And his mother had loved the idea for them to add their own personal touch. So Garrus had showed Shepard exactly how handy a Turian was by putting in a few for them. It was large enough for him to fit in one side of the bay window open to see Shepard vault the fence he had put up as a child. Their home had surprisingly made it through the Reaper War without a link being broken. Garrus let out a slow breath, amazed to see her go out of sight. He oddly didn't worry about her going off on her own. She was well armed, and his rifle had been put together and waiting since they landed. Old habits did die hard.

Garrus held his position there until he saw a figure approaching at the same pace she had left at. He let out a slow whistle, still a little impressed she could do that. If she hadn't gone all the way back to the city and back he'd be surprised. She returned exactly on time too, and when she slowed her approach he tossed her a towel.

"Pent up energy?" Garrus cocked his head to the side, a soft purr in his tone. The redhead patted her neck, but didn't hesitate a nod of agreement.

"It was a great suggestion." He smiled, turning away to step inside the house instead of one leg hanging out of the window.

"So my dad wants to take you to an old family spot of ours."

Her eyebrows rose, "Really? Where?"

"A quarry I guess you'd call it. Rock-climbing events, picnics, that sort of thing."

She looked up at him, eyebrows raising, "A… quarry? You had family events in a quarry?"

He laughed, "There has been safety improvements, Shepard. Then again, doesn't climbing up sheer cliffs seem fun?" He offered a hand up, playful smile on his face. "There was a mine next to it once, when I was a child. The mine has been shut down now but… well." He'd just wait for her to see it herself.

"-And I picked you up some more sunscreen while you and Solana where out. I used this stuff as a kid, it should help." Shepard climbed in after him- she was starting to realize the window was too low like she thought the other day. They'd more than likely have to raise it.

She had to laugh at her thought process. Shopping for a window and installing it was so crushingly domestic. But she couldn't shake the feeling she could get used to it. "Will it work on someone without armor plating?" She asked, her own smile forming.

"If it doesn't, I'll take a shuttle out and get some human suntan lotion that's rated for Turian radiation."

She leaned up and pecked him on the cheek, meeting him halfway. "I feel like you would, too."

He nodded, roping an arm around her waist to steal a kiss before she could get too far away. "I would."

Shepard went off to the bathroom, tossing her towel off to the side to get a shower. "Maybe Solana had actually had that talk with him…" and much to her disbelief, he had rethought their- her- stay here. She shook her head a little, turning the shower to warm, then to cold. "Then again he just might want to see me literally catch on fire…"

xxx

The first thing she noticed when they got out of their vehicle was the sand- automatically assuming it was going to be pavement. A rich charcoal gray with little rocks that looked like a much darker shell beneath it; then the chill of it touching her feet. Both feet met the ground and she let out a slow sigh of relief; looking up at Garrus who raised a brow at her, "What?"

Shepard gestured to the ground almost feverishly, "It's literally like ice. It feels amazing."

He glanced where she pointed, shaking his head at her, "Means I don't want to get out in it."

He turned to look in their carry-bag for some sort of shoe for himself. "What is this stuff? It's like sand."

The Turian glanced at her, "What we have out there is sand." He pointed backwards at the hills they had crossed to get there. It was definitely dry. "It's probably mud. More than likely."

She made a face, "This stuff isn't even vaguely like mud… Am I going to get looked at funny for having a jar of this sticking out of my bag?"

He chuckled, "I doubt it. Some of the off-world colonists do that too." Shepard thought about that for a moment and wondered if their species shared that at least. They clearly didn't have the same definitions of mud and sand. A lot of humans who were colony-born had a lot of issues with Earth's atmosphere- too cold or too hot. "I think there is a decent sized market for it now too, not that it matters. This is all public owned so go ahead and get some."

She did just that and got a little jar full of it, and took a moment to put a little behind her other ear just to see what it did. If she was allergic to it, she'd know soon enough. Shepard followed Garrus as they walked and stopped short at the top of the hill they were walking up.

"Mine, huh?" She asked softly, feeling the warm breeze hit her- flowing out over the lake before her. Garrus stood beside her, looking out over it with a similar expression, but not one of awe. "I thought Palaven was a mostly a metal and fire planet?" She couldn't take her eyes off the lavender waves that rolled, lined with silvery red grass and flowers she had could never hope to know the names of.

"It was."

She frowned, suddenly having a flashback to a document about Palaven she had read one tired night during the war. "-Water and power supplies have all but vanished. Still, the fight here has cost the Reapers dearly-."

"How did it get here?" She whispered to him, finally looking away from it.

"The lake here were just the result I suppose. The Reapers tried to planet crack our planet in their resource gathering. They took people as much as they did resources to fuel their war against us." Garrus narrowed his eyes at the water, "I still remember when one of those things snuck up on me on Earth. Spouting some crap about Palaven being an acceptable loss. Uninhabitable. Trying to get in my head."

Shepard nodded, but said nothing. The Reapers had a way of getting inside everyone's head. Just like the Illusive Man did... She knew all about that.

"There was aquafer beneath a lot of the hardened lava. Practically an entirely new biome we knew nothing about." He glanced at her, "–It's pretty interesting if you want to read the report." He added and she said she did. "The aquafer most likely circumvented a nearby lava tube and bubbled up to the surface. It's heated too- but the mud around it's ice cold. It's perfectly safe, besides the fact of, you know- Turians can't swim."

Shepard glanced at him, more than a little impressed by him. "And you said calibrations were your thing."

Garrus shook his head, "I have many talents."

She grinned, "You do, including dancing and putting in a window." Her hat was readjusted on her head for a moment to block out the sun. "It's still really gorgeous, though."

He nodded, "I'll give you that, this is one of the smaller ones. They opened up all around Palaven. It's done a number to the ecosystem but… there's not really a normal when you just come out of a war like that." He stopped short seeing his parents at a little picnic area. There were other people there- many of them Turian. Where they walked was a slow incline downward. About a hundred feet there was the sheer cliff that Garrus mentioned with people climbing it. But at least they had tethers and helmets. It looked like a rock climbing wall and wondered for a moment if she might give it an attempt herself.

Some stared at her, others ignored, but many didn't notice at all- which she was thankful for. She saw his parents and Solana in their own spots. Solana was with a group of Turians putting on harnesses to step into line for the wall. It even had different spots for people of various ages.

"So this is what Turians do for fun…" Shepard smiled from below her hat, eyes going from group to group. In the distance someone was playing a very… folk-like tune. It was almost funny.

She felt Garrus stiffened beside her and she turned her head; he didn't have to say a word for her to know something was wrong. Her gaze followed his to land on his parents. Castis was sitting beside Vetra on a bench, a large group of desert like flowers growing behind them. His hand was clutched in hers as she struggled to breathe in and out. Their pace changed immediately, hurrying over to them.

Garrus kneeled beside his mother, "What happened?" He asked his father, his mother drawing wheezing wet breaths. Castis shook his head, not answering as Vetra seemed to regain herself a little.

"I'm fine- I'm fine. Just got a little –short of breath." She patted Garrus on the shoulder who didn't budge from her side. Even Shepard could see she wasn't feeling well. Vetra was practically pressed into Castis to hold herself up.

"Maybe you should go see someone though, Vetra… Just to make sure." Shepard suggested softly, noticing the unholy glare she got from Castis, but the lack of an argument. Solana was the last to approach, looking as worried as Garrus did.

"She makes a good point." Castis sighed to his wife, the other shut her eyes for a moment, "If nothing else, we should take you home to rest. Too much in one day."

Vetra nodded, "But the kids stay here. There is no sense in everyone coming." Garrus and Solana spoke at the same time. Various chores they had forgotten to get done before coming. Vetra shot them a knowing look before attempting to stand. Castis helped her back to where they were parked. Garrus shared a silent look with Solana and she headed after them.

He turned back to face Shepard. She searched his eyes for a moment, stepping closer so they would not be overheard by the retreating figures, "You're worried. So there must be a reason to. What can I do?" Her hand rested on his bicep.

The taller stared back, his entire body still tense. "I don't know at the moment. But if she has another relapse…"

"I understand. Let's go back too. Just so we're close if they need us. I'm sure this isn't going anywhere." She gestured her head back to the purple waters that a few brave Turians were rolling around in.

Garrus agreed, "I'll make it up to you."

She shook her head, "No need. I think I left the bed unmade."


	17. Helos Medical Institute: Restricted

FILE UNLOCKED

Public key: ENCRYPTED: Override?

Passphrase: Archangel

Loading...

Medical Entry #1401

Journal 18D of Dr. Jelith Kieron

Specialized Diseases and Rehabilitation Department

Helos Medical Institute

Patient: Vetra Toreeth Vakarian

Classification: Severe - Stage 5

Affliction: Corpalis Syndrome

Though Vetra has made several strides in recovery. Regaining most of her motor functions and face recognition skills, she still has physical issues dealing with the treatments. Corpalis is truly a rough ailment to deal with any part in one's life, but certainly not in the latter.

Few patients make it to this age, then again, Turians don't tend to live very long to begin with. She has been in remission since she returned home. I believe I should put in a request to have her treatments there soon- since being in that environment helps her retain her memory and probably is more comfortable. She talks about her son and daughter most of the time- something that doesn't change.

The neurological degeneration isn't even the worst part. It's the body that has issues with this. The brain forgets itself, and it spreads. Degeneration organs and muscle tissues. Perhaps I can put her into some sort of physical rehab- but that made speed up the effects. Uncertain. Make note to Dr. So-... Just make a note. [NOTE FILED]

I can take snapshots of her brain and help her regain some of her life, but it's not perfect. Donations from her son have definitely helped though. Especially how often they are coming now. I do not understand his wish to keep it anonymous, but I will keep to his wishes.

On Vetra's visits for treatment, this recent snapshot of her brain showed no significant changes. Which I'm thrilled about. But her continued physical decline worries me. How does one heal the mind and body at the exact same time when both are intent on killing the host. As one improves, the other declines. I will check with Wok'N in Department 11. He might have something to add. [NOTE FILED]

END FILE


	18. Better

Garrus splashed some water on his face in the kitchen sink, rubbing his eyes to rid them of their fatigue. Shepard sat at the bar top with a cup of coffee in her hands. "Still nothing?" She asked him, the sun was just starting to sink over the distant buildings of the city. It had been several hours since the quarry and Vetra seemed to be absolutely worn out.

"No changes. She's been sleeping mostly. I've been reading most of the night. Trying to keep myself awake." It was a habit they both did.

"Encrypted files again?" She asked, sipping her drink.

He turned around to lean back against the sink, "Nothing else interests me." His voice was even distant and Shepard hummed her understanding.

Her eyes traced over him, "Whatever happens, we'll handle it." The redhead repeated his words that practically had been tattooed in memory.

It had the same effect thankfully, allowing Garrus to nod. "I already contacted Helos. They're going to send a medical team tomorrow."

"That's good. You look exhausted." She came around to him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. A comforting gesture, "I can try to order something if anyone's hungry." Castis was busy helping Vetra, Solana was about as talented as she was. Not to mention she was desperate for some way to help, "Vetra showed me a few things but I don't think I'd manage to cook a full meal yet."

Garrus sighed slowly, hugging her close when she came near. "Thank you." She nodded, sharing another kiss with him before searching through the drawers for some sort of take-out menu. She'd sworn she saw one earlier when they had first gotten here.

"I'll see what Solana wants. She's picky." Garrus pointed her toward the right drawer before heading out the back where Solana would be on their own make-shift range. Complete with their very own glass bottles and cardboard cutouts.

Shepard found the phone and made arrangements after Garrus didn't come back. At the bottom was a few things circled with the words, 'Solana' on the side, so she figured those were safe. She didn't notice the figure come down the hallway from behind her. He stopped at the entry way and his eyes focused on the human there. She was twirling a pen between her fingers, head cocked to the side to hold the phone in the notch of her shoulder.

Castis glared at her from the back, not even completely understanding why the presence of her angered him so much. Perhaps it was the fact that she was standing there, in her spot, in his house. His teeth clicked together, a small sound but caused the woman to turn. She stopped short, clearing her throat. "Oh. I'm ordering take-out… what would you like?" Castis snorted softly, answering her tensely. She turned back around, the hair on the back of her neck was standing up with him glaring at her.

She hung up and put the phone back in it's place, then the menu. Castis hadn't budged from his spot and Shepard wondered if he was waiting on her to leave. Then he spoke, his voice a low rumble. "You seem to be grasping Turian culture well enough." Shepard turned away from the window she was looking out of to spot Garrus.

"I'm trying to wrap my head around it." She offered, planting herself behind the counter in the kitchen. "It's been difficult in some areas but anything worth something isn't easy."

Castis nodded once, again giving that slight inch of agreement. "I suppose so. Though I'm not sure why this was all necessary."

Shepard matched his look of slight disdain for the other, "What is?" God, did Garrus have to put up with this all the time? Forty-three questions later Castis would still be looking at you like you have to have done something wrong.

"Turians mate for political reasons often. I see the reasoning he chose you. But usually the mates of this sort of reunion don't visit Palaven." Shepard blinked at him, more angry than ever that Castis still couldn't process the idea that they were together because they actually loved each other.

"Not that my son would just marry a human for political prowess. But he did make great strides with his taskforce. Could have been a general by now if he had really put his mind to it in the war." She swallowed, turning away from him to start on a leftover dish. Something to keep her mind off of telling Castis exactly where he could stick his attitude. Garrus would definitely be mad at her if she cold decked him in the middle of the kitchen.

"He surpassed that; Garrus is a great leader, I'd follow him anywhere."

Castis came to the other side of the bartop, where she had been earlier. "He does offer a lot. I believe his input would have even been helpful during those last few moments of the war. Your decision was correct, though I don't doubt that we could have used the reapers like they used us." The dish dropped into the soapy water and she bit her lip trying to fish it out. Her eyes narrowed at the soapy water, "Not to say a Turian wouldn't have done better."

The dish slipped farther into the sink and she cut herself on the edge when it broke. Her hand jerked away from it and her blood dripped on the countertop. She hissed, hating when she didn't actually expect pain from a situation-. Castis had gone halfway to her side strangely enough, his eyes concerned for the first time since she had been there. Shepard looked at him, answering him softly. "A Turian would have done better, Castis. I can't change what I am, or what I did." She stood her ground in front of him for a moment longer, "If you want me to leave, then I will go. But I'm not going to stop loving your son just because you hate my existence." The Turian blinked at her, mouth falling slightly open.

Solana rounded the corner, stopping at the sight of them. Then to Shepard's bloody hand. "Hey, Sol. I ordered what was circled. I've got to go… go." She pointed at her bleeding hand, walking past Castis who watched her go. Her chest felt tight suddenly. The memory of the last few moments in the Crucible screaming inside her head, the blood on her hand reminding her Anderson's gasping breath as she tried to stop both he and herself from bleeding out. The Turians and humans that she had seen taken over by the Reapers… The faces of her friends she had seen twisted in her nightmares because someone else had tried to control them and failed.

Her entire body was shaking apart as she got back to their little garage apartment. The bathroom door was slammed shut behind her and she grabbed a towel. Two steps later, she was in the corner of the shower.

She counted her breaths, trying to even out the shaking in her hands. "One, two, three- A _Turian would have done better_." Shepard bit her lip at that, readjusting the towel wrapped around her hand. " _I know_."


	19. Say You Won't Let Go

An hour later, she had ended up on the roof of the garage, in a spot she couldn't be seen from. The bathroom had suddenly become very small and she had moved where she could see the stars. At least that was a small comfort.

The ring did a few twists around her finger, one hand still supporting the towel on the other. No one had commented on it since she had come here, and she figured it was more a human culture thing than a Turian. Castis and Vetra didn't wear rings either. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise after all of this; she definitely doubted Garrus had told them they were going to get married… And now she even had doubts about that.

The roofing edge vibrated, the steel was surprisingly old fashioned to her- but perfect to climb. She braced herself from the other end, wrapping her arms more tightly around her. Garrus peeked over the edge, and for a moment she thought it was very cat like. "Ah! There you are. Should have checked here first. House looked like a better vantage point. But I like the reclusiveness of this one."

It drew a soft chuckle from her as Garrus climbed up further and made his way over to her. "You know me so well." Shepard hummed as he sat beside her and she leaned against him. He took her hand into his lap, putting the rag to it now she didn't have to.

"Solana told me you ordered her favorite."

She said nothing as she leaned up, her lips still tight from the fight. "Garrus, why did you stay with me?"

"That's a question and a half. I have a million reasons why, Shepard." He searched her eyes for a moment or two, cocking his head to the side. Garrus couldn't describe all of those million reasons, sure. But he knew the feeling of waking up to each other in the morning, and he knew the moments where they'd pass out drunk together the night before- both he loved. "I want to marry you, I think it's pretty important I'm present for the occasion."

Shepard gave him a watery smile, feeling that weight in her chest lifting a little. He loved her. It wasn't political reasons or she was some trophy for the Turian race to one up the humans. Garrus wrapped his arms around her, "What's wrong, love?" She shook her head, not saying anything and Garrus' body slowly started to tense. "My father was there when I came in. Did he say something to you?" She didn't answer him and he slowly started to unravel himself from her. "What did he say."

She should have known it was a bad idea to tell him, but she gave a brief version of it. "He just told me how much he didn't want me here." Shepard cleared her throat, making sure her eyes were completely dry as she said it.

All of a sudden Garrus was no longer beside her, the Turian was almost about to jump off the roof. "Garrus!" She scrambled after him, careful to not actually fall off the roof in the process. "Garrus-!" He was already pulling open the sandstorm door of the house. She ran after him, skidding to a halt in the kitchen behind him. Solana and Vetra were on one side of the room, the opposite stood Castis with his arms crossed.

"You know I've taken a lot of crap from you lately- I know you don't approve of my choices but that is absolutely no reason for you to treat her like this!" The room had gone silent when Garrus walked in, clearly more mad than most of them had seen him.

"Garrus, I was just-." Castis started and Garrus shook his head, "-And your trying to defend this?!" His snapped shut, glancing at his wife for a moment. She stared blankly back at him, not offering any help.

"You weren't even alive for the Contact war!" Castis snapped back at him, trying to regain some ground in the argument, disregarding the woman beside Garrus.

"No, but I grew up in the rocky peace after it! I saw what both sides did out of hatred to each other! Neither side knew what they were doing and both suffered for it!" The younger snarled back at him, a deep rumbling in his throat Shepard had never heard before over the sounds of gunfire. At least there were no guns at the moment…

"Both sides were angry afterward! And both sides learned TO FORGIVE!" Garrus' voice was slowly rising, "Something you seem incapable of! This irks you on so many levels and I'm starting to not give a damn! I left C-Sec! I became an killer! You blame me for mom getting sick this last time! Everything you warned me never to do or to be I became! And I even have a human as my-"

Castis recoiled his neck from him, looking like an angry snake. "Don't you dare raise your voi-!"

Garrus took another step forward, a dominating display but Castis stood his ground. Shepard put herself between them, stopping Garrus in his tracks. His voice was suddenly very quiet, "How dare me?! I dared the moment you decided to treat my soon to be wife like she's the worst thing that has happened to me yet! I never thought I'd say this to you, Dad- but show her some respect!"

Shepard reached out and put her hand over his mouth. "Stop." She said it softly. With no argument for him to have against it. And Garrus' eyes looked down at her, a little impressed she had actually put her hand on a very sharp and dangerously angry mouth… and embarrassed, because of what he had just said in front of her… In front of his family. That could have gone better.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, shaking her head. "We've all said things we regret tonight." She looked back at Castis, a soft look of apology on her face. Then she turned to look up at Garrus, "I'm leaving." She changed the full fingers to one as he opened his mouth to argue. "I understand the issue. And it's me. So I'm pulling myself out of play." She kissed his collarbone, removing the last finger from his lips. Garrus remained utterly silent and still, hearing Shepard pass him. Everyone was quiet now, still in the way she had silenced a very loud room.

Garrus shut his eyes as he heard a door for the front open and shut. She'd go to the apartment and pack… he looked up at his father, who was staring at the door too.


	20. Ocean Drive

The next morning Solana sat in the passenger seat of the car beside her father. The girls had decided that if their father choose to shoot Garrus for some reason- or vice versa; that Shepard would be the one in charge of Garrus and Solana her father. Shepard sat in the middle of the backseat between Garrus and their luggage- the trunk latch had been conveniently broken this morning. She didn't really complain about the lack of safety belt… it wasn't like Castis was a terrible driver or something to _actually_ worry about. He drove incredibly slow… probably because he still acted like a cop.

Shepard took Garrus' hand out of sight of Castis. Nothing about this seemed to be resolved this morning either. Garrus had come home late, packed up his own things like she had, and gotten into bed beside her. Neither of them talked, and both stuck in their own little worlds. Midway through the night, Garrus had pulled her close to him. She wasn't sure if it was out of sleep or an actual need for the space between them to be closed. She didn't refuse in either case, and tucked her head underneath his chin.

Shepard tried to drown herself in her thoughts, trying to not focus on the fact that she'd probably permanently torn this family apart simply because she was human. So many were still angry about the war- and that was almost thirty years ago at this point. Would they ever make it past that? And she had no idea how to change Castis' mind about her- She swallowed at that thought, and Castis glanced in the rearview mirror. Right into her eyes. They stared a second too long before he looked away.

Solana glanced at the dashboard, she'd been in a staring contest with the rocky plains out the window so far. "Pull over, dad."

Castis squinted his eyes at the dash, and Shepard wondered for a moment how good the Turian's vision truly was. Bugs were hitting the windshield and evaporating to almost dust moments later. Her head turned to look out over the hills of silver trees and a few patches of purple in the West she hadn't known the origin of when arriving here. Castis did pull off not too long after that. The vehicle was making a high pitched noise as it slowly started to shut down.

"Electrical?" He mumbled to himself, getting out to open up a side compartment on the back. Garrus followed Solana and the redhead didn't take long after them. There was absolutely no way she was staying behind in a vehicle in this temperature. Shepard picked her way over a few feet, seeing the very distinct edge of a cliff a few yards away. She thought it would be better to stay out of the way for now. If they needed her, she was sure she'd hear a grunt that been her name over the last week.

Solana tapped a gauge in the corner, "You just replaced the battery in this thing, right?"

Shepard looked away from what they were doing to look out over the… -Palavin almost looked like more wasteland than anything else. But desert rock would be a nice way of putting it.

"I did. Garrus check the back of the starter-…"

She was going to miss this place in a way. It had a certain undeniable beauty to it. Things could survive here- thrive even in the right conditions. Garrus had stooped low to look underneath the back of the vehicle, Solana moving to follow him under.

 _"Get clear-"_ A strangled yell sent her whipping around- she was hit so hard it took her breath away. The three Turians had almost five seconds before the vehicle launched itself into the air- the force making them all airborne for a few moments. Shepard couldn't control her slide and then she ran out of ground completely. For a second her entire stomach dropped before the rest of her did and she was falling. The edge of the cliff flew past her and she scrambled to grip against the drop off. The sharp edges of the quarry cutting into her arms and legs. Fabric brushed her fingertips and she snatched at it, gripping it hard enough to stop her fall almost completely. It nearly tore her shoulder from it's socket, but she swung slowly as she gasped for breath. A climbing rope buried in the rock cracks being her only saving grace.

 _Solana? -Castis? Garrus-!_ Shepard climbed, trying to find spaces for her hands to fit in the side of the rock now she could stop herself from falling if the rope snapped. It had been bleached by the sun- who knew if it would last. And she used half of it to tug herself up.

It didn't last long at all. When the rope's hook dislodged from the top, she still managed to hold herself there as it flopped painfully over her shoulder. She wanted to go rock-climbing but this hadn't been what she had in mind. Shepard tied the rope end around her belt so it wouldn't trip her, and the rest of it left to dangle over the drop- which was certainly more than she could risk. A warm rush of air hit her and she hugged the rough surface, pulling herself up on a ledge big enough for her to catch her breath on. The vehicle came crashing down to the bottom bellow her, sending up a cloud of fire and smoke. _What the ever loving fuck just happened?_

Her mind cruelly told her there were no bodies mingled with the metal, which meant they waited for her at the top. It took her longer than she wanted to climb too, free climbing wasn't exactly her strong suit and she almost proved it several times. A brief struggle to pull herself over the edge when she rolled to the ground. She calmed her breathing, keeping close to cover. Voices. And not of the Vakarians.

She peeked from behind a large stone jutting out of the ground near the cliff's edge. A group of Turians were there, with a few Vorcha. Her breath was stolen from her as she counted the numbers in her head, and then to what they were surrounding. They had arrived here while she had been busy climbing back up. Shepard came closer for a better look- maybe even a chance to get a weapon. What she had on her for protection sat at the bottom of the drop. Garrus lay sprawled on the ground, a small blue bloom on the ground. Solana was tied and gagged not a few feet from him, kicking at the two vorcha who tried to keep her still on the ground.

A hand came around her mouth and Castis hissed in her ear. "Easy." He was fast… _and quiet_. He let go of her immediately after it and Shepard didn't care what happened the night before, her eyes checked for injuries. Shepard could see him doing the same thing and turned her head back to his children surrounded by Vorcha and Turians. His clothing was burnt in spots and blue smears lined his sleeves. Nothing that he wouldn't recover from as far as she knew.

She moved to another rock against Castis' warning, he was having a hard time fitting behind the rock she had been behind before. There between the crack of the two she crouched behind, she could see a straight shot to Garrus laying in a heap. She could see the chest rising and falling, but he didn't stir as a boot kicked him over. Shepard's eyes went upward to the face it belonged to. A tall Turian with reddish brown skin with black markings took out a long blade from a side holster. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here." The curved knife hooked the inside of Garrus' jaw, turning it roughly in the opposite direction to get a look at his scarred face. "Archangel… Now here I thought someone told me you were dead. They didn't even scar you well enough." The Turian said in a deeply dissatisfied tone. Then he cocked his head to the side, "But oh Solana~ Baby, no wonder you such a giant pain in the ass… Your brother is Archangel." There was no answer as the man let the knife slide out of Garrus' jaw without leaving any mark. Shepard let out a slow breath, Castis was a foot from her again- eyes narrowed on the leader of this group.

"I can't wait to tell the boys this." His voice was a hiss as he loomed over Solana. Shepard stiffened so hard her back popped as she watched him step closer. Castis was staring out over the rock, his hands clawing along the ground for some sort of weapon. A sharp piece of glass, a rock- he'd use his hands to strangle this one if he had to.

"And if I remember correctly… Archangel's bounty still isn't claimed. First I set my boss up a line out of this planet with your security clearance. Then I hand your brother over to get paid. I wonder if they'll let me have a part of him to hang up on the wall. If it makes you feel any better. I'd prefer anything of yours." He grabbed Solana by the mouth with a purr, she let him bring her closer to him and headbutted him right in the nose. He snarled at her but it turned into a low chuckle, his long tongue came out to lick the blood coming down from his nose. "Feisty… Load 'em up."

He turned to a vorcha, "Did I _stutter_?" It made a guttural bark at the others and the Turian dropped Solana from his grip on her. "Find the other two and shoot them. I want an update on the house- burn it if you can't get the woman under control." They moved quickly around him, throwing Garrus like a ragdoll into the back of a vehicle and Solana kicking and screaming with him.

Shepard stared at the retreating vehicle, turning her attention to the immediate threat. Back home Vetra was in even worse danger than they were. The Turian left behind a detail of eight, five turians and three vorcha. She had had worse odds but then again she had a lot more back up too. Her blood was boiling again, coming alive in her veins. She needed a weapon.

Castis clicked his teeth at her, to get her attention. Shepard shot a glare back at him, a silent passing of, " _What?!"_ His head angled and shifted to her left, seeing two vorcha stepped toward them to check the skid marks she had left behind on the ground. The hot sun's providing them shadows and a repugnant smell to work with. Shepard took a deep breath as they came closer, holding it. Clinking of cartridges and beads on the vorcha's armor making noise to mask her shifting into position.

The first vorcha stepped up to the other side of the rock and she struck before he could fully walk around. She moved quickly, sweeping the legs out from underneath him, removing the gun from the alien's hand mid-fall. The vorcha twisted stab her with a knife and met a shot between the eyes. She'd ask questions later. The first one was always easy when you surprised them; it always got much worse after that.

Castis had done about the same as she had, only grabbing the second vorcha and quickly snapping it's neck. A weapon was in his hand and he fired on the group of turians. Shepard moved upward when he went down. His movements were familiar to her and the rush long missed. This was her first fight since London… and it thrilled her. There was shouting now, movement and spray and pray gunfire. Shepard almost smiled, coming up to cause her own damage. As Garrus had once said, it wasn't wise to go against her.

They often ended up dead.

xXx

"We need to tell the police. We can get help getting them back." Shepard glanced at him, fiddling with the navigation system in the vehicle that had been left behind for their would be killers. They had collected as much ammo as possible, but it still wasn't enough to take on anyone in a real fight. The group hadn't exactly aimed and had expended a god awful amount of their supply. She was glad she didn't have to argue with Castis about going after them. "Did you get anything off them to make a call?" The redhead knew she hadn't. Castis shook his head, glancing at her. "No."

"Should we go back for Vetra?" Castis took a moment to answer, "We can't take on another group on our own. We'll end up getting everyone killed. Besides, she knows how to hold the line." His tone was stiff, like that was exactly what he didn't want to answer her with. Shepard nodded once; she knew the logic of it, but wasn't entirely sure she would have done it herself.

"We don't' know where they took Solana and Garrus…."

Shepard clicked a few buttons, "I'm working on that part. If I can get this working I can see where they last were…" She muttered.

Castis snorted in disbelief, "Where did you learn that from?"

"Your son." She clipped back, shooting him a look. "I bet you think the police are even going to let us borrow some of their ammo too. Let's hope you still have a few friends in high places."

A few more buttons were pressed and Castis growled, changing the subject, "How long is that going to take?"

"Well Castis, it's not like they have 'secret kidnapper base' bookmarked in their favorites." She brought up a little display of the last location check-ins for the vehicle. "They've been to this spot the most, if we're lucky that's where they are going to take Garrus and Solana." Shepard put it up on the dash board now he could see their route. "I hope you're right about Vetra."

Castis drove a little faster, breaking the speed limit. "I am."


	21. Way Down We Go

"What do you mean he's busy?" Castis nearly spat. The bookkeeper slowly batted her eyes at him, not in the least bit bothered by the Turian. She was an Asari with green markings down her face, absolutely bored to tears at them both. Shepard stood beside him; she had known something like this would happen but she hadn't expected a complete brush off. In almost every planet she'd been to, the police had been incredibly unhelpful- and if they were, something was wrong.

"Like I said, sir. Captain Boka is a very busy man. I can have you fill out a missing person's report and we'll take it in line with the next case."

Castis seemed to boil in his armor and grit his teeth. "Look here, I've known Captain Boka since the academy- If you just let me have a minut-!" Shepard winced as he seemed to bulk up in front of her. He was on edge as much as she was and it was probably the first time she had really seen Garrus' father lose that cool composure. Garrus was the same way when he got angry.

The secretary sighed, "Sir, I will call security if you don't want to be cooperative." The make the idea a point she put her hand under her desk. Possibly hovering over button to get a security team on them in a heartbeat. Castis took a deep breath and gave her one last scorching look. Before she said anything else he turned on the spot and walked straight out of the building. Shepard followed him, but kept her comments to herself. Now wasn't the time for I told you so.

"Let's go. We're wasting our time here. Back in my day this would have never stood. Absolutely-" He walked down the steps from the police department, she followed after him looking at the cops bringing people up the stairs or lawyers coming out from meetings.

"-Then we take matters into our own hands." Shepard cut him off at the beginning of his tirade. "The more time we waste, the worse this is going to be. We need weapons and ammo- even armor, if we can get it." Castis glanced at her, changing his direction toward their vehicle. She followed in step, "I'm guessing you've got an idea?"

"One should always have extra sources of ammo in a fight." He grunted at her, letting himself into the driver's seat once more. She wasn't sure if the stories about her driving had spread this far or it was just a 'man thing'.

"We weren't in a fight before this." Shepard pointed out as she got into her side, having to move two rifles out of her way to sit down.

"Weren't we?" He stared right at her, and she held it. When he looked away she shut her door with a snap.

"You're right." Shepard agreed, "Not everyone's war stopped at the Crucible." A single nod came from Castis, as if her saying it had satisfied him in some way. She took a breath, "So where are we headed for the supplies?"

Castis pulled them out of their parking spot and up into the lines of traffic. City sounds of construction and daily life around them. Shepard was in a strange spot between panic and absolute calm. She was certain she would find Garrus, and she was also certain she'd kick everyone's ass that had a role in it. Finding him in what condition worried her the most. Castis was still at full speed when he grunted, "Switch seats with me."

That snapped her out of her thought process, "What?! You're driving!" Castis was already moving and Shepard scrambled to the other side of the vehicle as it made a small dip downward. She snapped it back up, having to even pull the seat up a little. "Jesus Christ, fucking warn me next time!"

Castis did a double take at her, "I did?"

She glared at the road as he rolled down his window and one hell of a breeze blew into the car. Shepard slowed now he wouldn't have his head taken off with a sign. Darn.

But when he reached out to a crossing station- a little box on top of a crossing button that had an ad playing on repeat- and tore it off…? Castis pulled the little box inside, tapping on it to turn off the display. He took the navigation system down, "Do you remember this location?"

She had enough time to nod before he killed the nav system by yanking out a line of fiber optic cable in the back. Then with the box he had in his hand, "What are you doing?" Shepard kept going in the direction Castis had picked for them.

"Making us a phone." Her eyebrows went up at him. When Garrus had described him as a 'tinkerer', she wasn't sure why she had imagined clocks or ships in a bottle- and not building a phone in a getaway car. Behind her lights came on in the vehicle that had been following them. She recognized the police departments insignia they had just left.

"Bad time to mention I don't have a license?" Shepard hissed turning around to get a better look at them. Castis twisted head around, "Crap." He growled, "They're doing this on purpose. Why don't you have a license?!"

Shepard rolled her eyes, "Your son drives everywhere! I never really needed one- and if I drove I usually was on spectre business and that was my license!" She pulled over after a few minutes of silence between them.

It was better to resolve this, hell they might even have the ones pulling over them help them out. Hopefully. He shook his head, "Just let me do the talking-." The cop that had pulled them over set a hand with a gun pointed at them on the window ledge.

Castis froze and so did she, "Ya know, I've been working this gig for years and no one ever came to bother me." The book keeper from before had a gun trained on Shepard. On Castis' side window stood a bulky Turian with another gun. When Castis looked at him, the Turian smiled a mouth full of jagged teeth. Castis' lip twitched a little, glancing at Shepard. "Then you two had come along and start shouting and raving." She hissed at them, "Get in the back seat. Now!" She and the bulky Turian; Shepard had already dubbed him 'buckethead' stepped backward. Shepard and Castis both got into the backseat, sharing a quiet word with one another. "Shut it!" She snapped at them, and shut them into the car back.

"Take the car to Oseser to show them off. He sent out word he's looking for these two. He'll give me an extra twenty percent and you- fuck I don't know, a new chew toy." She chuckled and the Turian snorted.

He leaned back down to aim between Castis' eyes. Shepard kicked out the door out on her side, hitting the Asari hard in the groin, putting her off balance for a moment. She stepped to the side and took the gun away from the Asari as she dropped. In the same moment she did that, Castis took away the gun from the other Turian, who had leaned just a little too far into the car. The gun was jerked hard into the cabin, making the other holding it smack into the top of the car with his nose. The Turian let out a cry of pain as Castis hit him again with the door- knocking him out cold on the ground. Castis got out and looked at Shepard. "That was almost disappointing."

Shepard didn't say anything with her eyes narrowed at the Asari. "You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I shoot you in the face." They were exposed out here, especially when this looked like the opposite of what should happen at a routine traffic stop.

The Asari showed her teeth at her, "I'd rather you shoot me than the Turians ripping me apart for this later." Castis looked over the car at her, hands busy tossing the Turian into the backseat. "And how about a Turian ripping you apart now?"

Talk about bad cop, worse cop. Shepard kept her eyes on the Asari, who crossed her arms. "I don't know anything. I just kill the reports coming in from anyone hearing them."

The redhead narrowed her eyes, "Where do the reports come from?"

The Asari shrugged and Castis came around the car she took a step back. "Somewhere near the south end. A building or something. I don't have exact locations."

Shepard glanced at her, "You know a Durmic N'Glover Memorial?"

A moment pause before she nodded, "It's a hospital. I ain't telling you shit about it either."

Castis hit her in the back of the head sharply, tossing her into their back seat as well. "Worthless answers. Why did you ask her about the hospital?" He took their weapons off them and slid into the passenger seat again.

She looked around and shot a camera above them to watch this street and slid into the driver's. They didn't know who they had on their side in the police department- if anyone. "Because that was the GPS spot I told you about earlier. She knew something about it that she wasn't about to tell us. Means there is something there. Someone's got to know this Oseser."

"Good thinking. The ones who took Garrus and Solana mentioned the name too." She wasn't sure if she'd heard him right when Castis went back to fiddling with his Frankenstein box on his side. Shepard adjusted the mirror to see the two knocked out in the back. Well, that was unexpected.

They were halfway there when Castis finished his makeshift phone and powered it on. "There we go." Castis hummed and dialed a number.

Shepard glanced at him, "I'm honestly surprised you got that to work. Who are you going to call- the police are out." He shifted, hitting the call button. "Always expected the unexpected. A friend of mine."

Castis heard it buzz for a few moments before a man appeared. Shepard took her eyes off the road for a moment to look at the image of a human on the screen. A soft deep voice sounded, "Hello?" The man was perhaps in his mid-forties, tired looking and had a fatherly look to himself.

"Alec, I'm sorry to call you this late but this is an urgent matter."

The man blinked at him, seeming to wake up a little at the words. "Castis- what do you need?"

"I know you still have access to a lot of C-Secs old manifests. I need any information you can give me on someone and perhaps some back-up if it comes to it."

The human blinked before nodding, "I can do the information, it might take me longer on the assistance."

"Deal." Castis started reading off information that they had gotten bits and pieces of. She floored it when they got on an open line of road without too much traffic, "Have you ever heard of a Turian named Oseser? Something to do with Durmic Hospital." Alec on the screen went away for a moment and she changed lanes.

"I've got multiple files on the name. But the top hit is Mel'jam Oseser, hes on a lot of watch lists. Human trafficking, murder, assault- Not the kind of guy you'd chase after with just the two of you." He held up the little pad in his hand now Castis could see the picture. The video quality was terrible but Shepard could still make out the Turian that had been there; the same one that put the knife in Garrus' mouth.

"Unfortunately we don't have a choice in that. He's got people in the police. No connection to the hospital?" He asked.

Alec shook his head, "Nothing I see, no. I'll try to get you some help- I know a few people in the network that want a piece of him." The screen flickered out and Castis hissed, wiggling the wire in the back to no avail.

"At least he got the message." He sighed and glanced at Shepard, who had pursed lips. "That explains why he was so interested in Solana. If he's into human trafficking he'd need a high level clearance to get their the security sectors for shipping. Solana has that…" He blinked at Shepard who was still narrowing her eyes further and further. "What?"

"You have human friends that you can ask all that from, but yet I'm the spawn of the Contact War?" She glared out at the road and Castis stiffened.

"I've worked with Alec for years while I was at C-Sec. One of the few humans I trust enough to have a gun near me." The Turian snorted, "And humans are still not the most trustworthy bunch. I've seen what humans do. I've walked among the dead in the war. We lost too much- we lost centuries worth of information, I lost family and friends. It was like prep for the Reapers. I learned to work with them for my job in C-Sec. Especially when one got a spot on the Council." Castis didn't look away from her.

Shepard let out a long slow breath, like a balloon losing air. "Everyone lost a lot in that war, Castis." He looked at her through narrowing eyes. Shepard continued before he could snap a retort, "My father was on one of the last warships taken down by the Turian fleet. We had been in a cease fire, but someone got trigger happy. I only found that out years later when I joined the Alliance. I think that was really why I joined in the first place. Besides Anderson."

Her father-in-law blinked, but said nothing. He seemed to dwell on that for a bit, "I'm surprised your mother didn't raise you with the venom the rest of your people have against us from that."

Shepard was quiet, "She never did. Didn't get the chance to either. She's dead. My parents weren't married, so we didn't get my father's death benefits from the Alliance. When she got sick, there wasn't any way to help her. The city was mess from the war. I buried her in the woods when I could." She looked over at him, "And I still love your son. So don't give me that bullshit that you've seen too much to accept it we can move past that."

Castis was utterly silent, jaw shut tightly as she drove. She almost felt a little proud, it was the first time she had managed to shut him up. Castis didn't say anything, Turians weren't big on apologies.


	22. Same 'Ol

Castis frowned at the building in front of him. "Hospitals are never good places to have a firefight in, Shepard. Even if they are almost empty." She stared up at it, eyes narrowed against the sun straight above them. In the distance something akin to a dog barked, the emptiness around them was unnerving. It reminded her of the city she had grown up in on Earth. Desolate, and forgotten.

"Do we have much of a choice?" Shepard looked to her right and then to her left, the entire street still had huge concrete chunks missing out of the roadway, there were literal bones trapped beneath an overturned car sticking out of a shop window. They stood not thirty feet from the entrance of the hospital. Even it was missing a few floors off the top and she swallowed. How many had already died here? "Why need the shipping clearance anyway? No one would blink twice evacuating a hospital after all this mess."

"That's exactly why they needed Solana. They were trying to move inventory after they shut this place down. Black market dealers love to set up near or in hospitals. John Smith comes in with a superficial injury and wakes up in some colony halfway across the galaxy as a slave. Or worse, missing a few pieces of himself too. It all fits." Castis grunted, "High security clearance like what Solana has; to a government loading dock? It would get them anywhere and have a route that could never be shut down."

She checked her weapon in her hand with practiced fingers. Having already done it once in the car on the way there, she knew everything was exactly where it should be. "Solana mentioned she was having issues at work but you think she would have told someone she was getting put into a corner… Oseser acted like he knew her." She wondered if something _more_ was going on there.

"When she _refused_ , they came after her." Castis added with a side long look at her, taking a note of her tone. Shepard said nothing; she liked Solana- but they had nothing to prove she hadn't already done her part and this group was smart enough to clean up the loose ends. She had seen it before.

Castis looked back up at the hospital. "Are we going in quietly or…" He gestured with his chin to the front door. Shepard took in her surroundings for another moment. No cars parked on the street besides their own, there was no obvious way inside besides the gaping hole several floors up, or the front door. Unless they wanted to play window washers they weren't getting up there.

"Let's knock and see if their open."

They were low moving blurs coming through the parking-lot. A redhead human in a blue, very torn sundress, she had thought was a good idea this morning; and a Turian, were a lonesome two man team against an entire building. Both of them barely fit into their pieced together armor they had stripped the two of. The asari and turian from earlier were still knocked out cold in their backseat. They didn't plan on taking this car out of their anyway. Either way, the asari had been quite a bit smaller than Shepard.

There was a three man team inside the building. Castis pulled the door open and Shepard stepped in. Two guard's heads snapped up, standing to pull weapons; the third had rounded a corner out of sight as they did this.

 _"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy! Put down your weapons!"_

Giving them one chance to stand down, then she allowed herself to silence her conscious. Both humans' faces twisted into snarls and Shepard made a snap decision when their guns continued to rise. She shot the right in the head once, Castis doing the same with the left a half second later. They stayed in their formation, a wall of stench hitting them as they moved forward. The third ducked from around the corner and she squeezed her trigger again. A quick flash of light and he dropped, helmet cracking into the marble floor.

Half a second longer they held in place, waiting for another group to come out of the woodwork due to their gunfire and shouting. She let out her first breath. Castis shook his head after walking a few steps ahead to check the third body for ammunition or anything they could use. One grenade was slipped into his pocket, the other offered out to Shepard. "Heavy hardware for guards." He muttered and stood, turning slightly to look behind the desk that separated the waiting room they had walked through and the back offices. "Looks like they killed the old guards and took their uniforms… that's worrisome."

She moved beside him after checking the human guards they had shot coming in. Shepard wince at the two body's behind the guard desk that were old enough to make the average person gag. "I don't know what we interrupted but it isn't good." Both bodies were stripped of clothing.

"If they had already set up shop here then why are the real guards dead?" Castis murmured, going up to the security desk that doubled as reception. He took one of the panels off the underside of the counter, looking in the cameras for any other opposition. Shepard dragged the third guard by the boot away from the line of sight from the other hallways with a grunt. They didn't need more ambushing them because they got sloppy.

"Who says these guys are even the real guards. I thought about knocking out the guards and taking uniforms on the way here. Someone beat us to it." Shepard said, leaning down to examine name plates or find IDs. Neither were there. Castis hissed through his teeth, causing Shepard to look at the picture he had paused at.

She was worried what he saw there; more opposition or the two bodies neither of them wanted to see. Much worse. "Blue Suns." Her teeth gritted. "Looks like Oseser already found a buyer for Garrus." They were several groups once Castis flickered through the camera screen. Most were in full on war with Oseser's group. This shit only happened to her. They were literally staging a rescue mission in the middle of two gangs at war; with absolutely no idea how many there were or how many hostages. "Get what you can… we're going to have to fight through some hallways. Can you get a map from that terminal?"

"I can try." Castis stood up and picked another object off a corpse when Shepard had moved out of his way. He wiped the blood off of the eyepiece he had in his hand. It took him a moment and a minor sound of crunching before he handed it to her. "That'll help." There were other eyepieces on the guards but none of them would fit the Turian. "Take point. I'll cover you."

Both a little surprised and pleased he'd actually trusted her with something, she took it from him. It was hot to her touch, making her worried it might electrocute her if she put it on for a moment. It slipped around the back of her skull and tightened to her automatically. She blinked as red dots appeared in front of her vision. It reminded her of Garrus so much it hurt her chest. "If you already changed the friendly markers, we've got incoming." They had just enough time to dive over the other side of the reception desk before the room was loud again with gunfire.

xXx

They sat in a storage closet on the fifth floor, both gasping for breath and wincing at their various wounds. Red and blue were mixing in droplets on the floor. "Alright?" Castis asked his daughter-in-law, examining a spot on his shoulder. A vorcha had gotten close enough to claw at him before being tossed down an elevator shaft.

"I'm fine. We need to keep pushing. If we can surprise a few of them we might get lucky enough to ask some questions." A cut across her jaw from a bullet far too close stung as she spoke. "That elevator was a death trap." She sighed pressing her fingers to the cut, frowning at her weapon that rested on her knees. They'd both had bruises before the day was up. Both Oseser's gang and the Blue Suns were here for blood, and didn't hesitate to try to trap them in one spot.

"Who would have thought someone would have been smart enough to throw a grenade down the shaft." Castis sighed, as if their mistake could have happened to anyone. "Either way, Oseser knows we're here. He'll speed up his plans for Solana and Garrus."

Shepard had had a hope that the Blue Suns, now under Aria, would hesitate before trying to murder her. But they had just as much of a grudge against her as they did Garrus, so she wasn't entirely surprised. "If you were keeping hostages in a hospital where they couldn't escape, where would you put them?" She puffed a piece of her red hair out of her face, adjusting her body armor. Luckily an asari had come along in the groups they had met along the way; Castis had gotten a lot luckier in the armor department. Either way, the sundress had gone in the trash and the Blue Sun armor pinched her in spots.

"No telling. They could have stuck them in any part of this facility that's behind a locked door." Castis murmured, "We're not going to find them by searching every floor either. And this lot isn't staying alive long enough to spill their guts on where they might be." She nodded once in her agreement. Castis pulled a little handheld unit out of his pocket. Any terminal or safe they found they took information off of it. If it was still operational after the hospital had closed- it was worth having. One of the terminals had an updated map of the hospital. Her visor had a much smaller one displayed in front of her. "Don't hospitals have that…"

He hummed, "Interior body count? That's just what I was thinking." She sat back, listening to the movements below them. Someone screamed in pain somewhere far off. There was a crack in the door to their little broom closet showing the end of the hallway, and the bottleneck they had taken shelter behind for now.

Interior body counters had been set up in almost every building that required a check-in. Too many terrorist attacks had made them legal. It was a massive part of the security system; it could count weapons, staffing, patient IDs and much more. The Normandy was going to be built with that as well. They could scan the entire building or ship and not only get locations of everything with a pulse, but also who was holding a weapon on them.

"Can you do that from here?" She asked, raising up her assault rifle to level the red dot about head height.

"No, but I'm looking for the security hub now on the map. I can do it from there. If we're lucky we can get there quietly and do the scan without anyone being the wiser." Castis glanced up at her movement and drew his pistol.

A Salarian rounded the corner and didn't have time to raise his weapon before there was a large yellowish green splatter mark on the wall behind him. "Don't bet on a quiet trip."

xXx

Even with her arms underneath his, Castis was still heavy to pull and be able to shoot behind her at the same time. Red lights were flashing around them, warnings going off in this particular room while the hallway was alight with muzzle flashes and yells. Both were deafening. Ducking as bullets went over her head and peppered the wall behind her, she tripped over another body.

Shepard grunted in pain when the Turian's full weight fell on top of her, the next wave of gunfire missing them by inches. One boot kicked the metal door shut once Castis was far enough inside. More bounced off the exterior and burst a window to the office. She hissed, glancing over Castis for any other wounds and checked him for a pulse- they were both lucky they had made it this far. "You better not be dead or I may kill you-!"

Another window broke, and she covered him with her body as glass broke over them. "Light 'em up!" Someone ordered and Shepard moved away from him to return fire out the window. Her breath came fast and she took ammo from her belt to switch out her cartridge. It dropped from the gun with a hiss of steam and she put her back to the wall as she heard them move up the hallway. There was no good outcome in this situation.

She took a deep breath as her weapon counter still clicked irritably that it was too over heated to fire. She unclipped one of the two grenades they had, swallowing hard. Shepard flung it out the broken window, pulling Castis and herself behind an overturned desk inside the room.

The screaming was terrible as she heard the explosion- it wasn't as loud as the ringing that took over immediately afterward. Shepard swallowed hard, holding onto her weapon tightly as she counted in her head. The visor on her face showed no more red dots outside the door- but it had been wrong twice since getting to the eleventh floor. Both had resulted in a serious injury. This last time Castis had been knocked out when a Blue Sun had actually shot a rocket down a hallway at them. If the police didn't arrive soon purely to wonder what the hell was going on, they weren't going to make it wherever they were keeping Garrus and Solana.

Shepard swallowed again, calming her heartbeat and slowly looked outside. Blood, body parts, and last breaths filled the room beyond and she looked away. No one ever talked about the gore of battle when they handed out medals at the end of them. She let out a slow breath, brushing the glass out of her hair. She made her way to the security terminal, stepping around the decomposed body she had tripped over earlier.

Getting into their system was disgustingly easy. There was a sticky-note with the password on the monitor. Shepard shut off the alarm- the ringing in her ears grew more intense in the silence and she wiped the blood that was coming down into her eye. "Scan- Where the fuck is the scanner…" She muttered, selecting a few folders when a groan came from behind her.

Her entire body twisted with her gun raised. Castis slowly rose up, hand on the side of his head where he'd been hit by debris. "What happened?"

"Ceiling came down on you." She lowered her weapon, coming over to him. He had a pinkish mark forming on the side of his face. "Still see straight?"

"Well enough to shoot. Where are we?" He took his gun in his hand again, rising to his feet. The larger was a bit unsteady, but still managed it.

"Security. I'll keep watch while you scan." She moved toward the door and lowered herself now she could get a good view of both hallways leading to the room. Her eyes spotted a gun case they would be raiding shortly in the corner.

Castis paused before going to the terminal, doing quick math in his mind. Shepard had just dragged his dead weight up two floors, with no guarantee he hadn't actually died when the roof had caved. His mouth opened, then shut, focusing on getting the scan running. He didn't know to tell her thank you or to wait until they were actually out of there.

A little hologram came up on the screen and he started the sequence. He let out a sigh of relief when it had worked and the little hologram lit up green when it finished with a floor. Almost five minutes later when the gun rack had been raided and some of their more serious injuries bandaged, a little bell rung. Castis returned to the terminal, "Spirits…" He whispered.

Shepard stepped beside him, a frown on her features. "They have that many hostages?" There was a single nod. Several floors had patches of dots that were registered as 'civilians' on the screen. "Garrus and Solana could be with any of them." She didn't see any spot in the building where there were one or two dots being guarded.

There was a pause as she got to the thirty-fifth floor; two little dots were moving down the hallway. "What's that? There." She pointed and Castis tapped on it. A monitor to their left came to life. A little breath escaped her lips, "Solana and-!"

Her joy evaporated in an instant as Castis whispered the name, "-Oseser."


	23. Intermission

"If you don't stay still I'm going to rebreak that leg of yours!" He snarled to her, continuing down the hall after she had struck him upside the head. He was almost a head taller than her, and his grip was bruising Solana the more she fought against it.

Solana paused in her struggle, "When my brother wakes up he's going to rearrange you from the inside out!" She screamed kicking at him harder, he had to readjust his grip again and she used it to her advantage. "Or my _entire family_ is going to have a field day- That's if I don't rip you limb from limb myself! It'll be a kicking shit party!" Solana bit him in the hand when he tried to put a hand over her mouth. The curiosity of why she wasn't afraid of him was overlapped by her screaming and flailing.

Oseser twisted suddenly, bashing her into a wall beside them. Then twice more, just for good measure. She flopped back into his arms, dazed.

They were coming into view of a group. Almost eight guards and ten civilians looked at him approaching. Even some of the guards jumped at his movement with Solana. He leaned closer to her, pressing her against the wall. "Where do you think you are now?" He hissed into her face, "You think this is going to end well for anyone? This is real, lover." A sick smile curled at his lips, "I know I strung you such fantasies when you were oh-so-willing to join me before, but you missed your chance. I'm going to do such terrible things to you…"

He gripped her harder and she blinked her eyes slowly open. Her gray blue gaze narrowed at him, "Oh screw off, you weren't _that good_ of a sweet talker." She head butted him right in the nose with her crest. The loud crack and roar of pain rushed the guards forward as she slipped out of Oseser's grip. She ran, her hands were still tied together behind her back. Solana almost made it to the end of the hallway.

Another soldier raised a gun to shoot her in the back, but had it roughly taken from her. His second in command, Jordi, looked up at him wondering if he gotten soft for the girl. She blinked in surprise when he cocked it and fired it. Solana let out a piercing scream as the bullet tore through her kneecap and senate her smashing into the wall at the end of the hall. She tried to crawl away from him only to have him fire above her head, making her stay where she was for a moment.

Her head twisted to look back at him. The smoke off the top of the gun curled around his face in a demonic way. Oseser smiled at her from where he was, as if he had proven some sort of unspoken point. He grunted out of the corner of his mouth to Jordi, eyes locked on Solana still. "Take her downstairs and stick her with the trouble group." He ordered, handing her back her weapon.

"You want time with her later?" Jordi asked softly, "I can arrange something." Her eyes traced the crack in his faceplate, underneath his right eye and stretching toward his mouth. It had a tiny stream flowing from it- _more than likely he would have it scar._

"Do that. I'll even clean up the mess. I want her head on my wall."

Jordi smiled as she signaled two guards away from the shocked and sobbing survivors behind them. _Those who witnessed this were far less likely to run now_. "Always the brutal one, Oseser." The Turian turned away from the scene and walked past the group, glaring at any of them that dared look in his direction.


	24. Kings

"How much longer?" Shepard asked from her position at the end of the hall. The only good thing about hospitals is that they had intersecting hallways and few blind spots- even if they were confusing after being inside the labyrinth all day. They had left the security hub quickly after watching what had happened to Solana- Castis had nearly ripped off the monitor from the mainframe. She couldn't blame him in the slightest. Oseser was going to regret his life decisions shortly.

But the distraction had cost them; another team had already blocked off several avenues on the floor now that they knew where they were. Castis and Shepard were crouched by the exit to another staircase just beyond- if the door hadn't been a high security lock they would have been fine.

"Twenty-seconds, at least." He reconnected a few more wires, typing rapidly on the door control panel. Moving blocks and relocating circuits, he was crouched low into the alcove underneath the security camera that was panning slowly left to right.

"We may not have that." She warned, red dots appearing on her visor as the team who had locked them on this floor started their sweep. "Six so far." How the hell did everyone not notice a giant operation like this in a hospital? Or did they just relocate here after the hospital closed down? That seemed more likely and more worrisome. Shepard had a map, but they had knowledge of the field.

Castis pulled more wires out of the box. "Stay hidden as long as you can." Shepard glanced at him and lowered herself further into the floor until she was practically flat on her stomach. A light flickered at the end of the hallway and she took a deep breath. Fifteen seconds…

They rounded the corner, a team of three in front and three in the back. Shepard looked through a crack in a table that had been blown out of an office beside her. A hot breeze stirred her hair. The entire hallway was littered with office supplies from the blast that happened sometime in the war. One of the men, it sounded like a vorcha from the scratchiness of the voice, sniffed the air.  
"Human. Turian too."

The team made it halfway down the hallway before they stopped, two of their party splitting into the destroyed offices, two staying on the hall in front of her, and two taking another hallway that lead back to the security room. Ten…

The two that were coming for her made her stiffen. She could hear the pins in their guns shake as they came forward, their boots vibrated the floor she was pressed against. They were well enough trained from their movement, she was hoping they faltered in aim. Five…

Castis hissed at her as the door slid open silently. Shepard shot him a dark look before sliding across the floor to him. The door shut behind them just as the squadron rounded the corner. They crouched off to the side for a moment, listening for the radio chatter that meant they had been found. When none came, she rested her head against the bulkhead. "That group was a higher caliber than what we've been up against so far." She spoke softly and Castis grunted his acknowledgement.

"Means we're making progress. Oseser is starting to sweat."

"As he should." Shepard added and checked her weapon. Not a second later she heard a gun cock next to her ear.

"D-Don't move!"

She stayed as still as possible, seeing the reflection of the person behind her on the locked door. A shaky salarian, holding a gun too big for him; he shook, but the weapon did not. There was blood seeping between his fingers on his stomach. She opened her mouth, going to talk him down from whatever he thought he was about to do, only for him to nearly collapse on her. Castis helped her move him off to the side when she caught him. "I'm Commander Shepard, I'm here to help." Several offices lined the hallway, a thick covering of dust layered even the floor.

The alien sighed, resting his head on the ground, "Finally- My name is Boka- We don't have much time, there are others-" He winced as his voice got louder.

"Easy." She had a few capsules of medigel she had gotten from the supply cabinet in the security hub.

"This will sting. We know about the other hostages."

Boka gritted his teeth as she tried to get him to stop bleeding. "There are shuttles in the parking garage- they are moving everything and everyone in the building. I got away when they were trying to move my group. God, they slaughtered us… I don't want to be turned into those things!"

Castis frowned at his words, "What things?"

"Some sort of… I don't know. Possible reaper origin. They look like corpses with these eyes bugging out and lights coming out of them."

Shepard stilled, "Like a husk?"

The salarian looked at her, "Similar- but add a collector and two other species and you might get whatever those things are- he's using them to fuel this… ridiculous cult army that worships the Reapers- some of them even have collector tech on them. They've been using us as fuel, workers, and labor- We've got to get the others…" His head rolled to the side for a moment- the medigel effects would make him loopy with the painkiller if he wasn't used to it.

"How do you know all this?" Castis muttered, but his eyes didn't leave his.

"The guards talked about it- They taunted us with it. Some of us have been here for months- _months!_ They kept me on this floor where they'd- they'd take out your- _"_ He was getting hysterical and Shepard quieted him.

"We need you to come with us to find your group of hostages. Then we'll get you to one of those shuttles and back where you belong, okay?" She finished up applying the medigel when he nodded, still shaking like a leaf. He seemed to ease after the medigel started to sink in a bit. "My group is dead… but I know where another is nearby- they just moved them there."

She took his gun from him though, just in case he wasn't exactly who he said he was. The Salarian nodded, rising up with their help. "It's back down this way. The guards are still looking for me…" Shepard supported him as they moved farther into the facility.

xXx

Boka was laid against the side of the wall of the transport sometime later. Hands worked over him to make sure he was strapped in by someone. His vitals were weak, and his eyes were half cast. Other survivors were around him, all strapping into their seats. Across from him was the turian with the woman earlier- _Commander Shepard_ \- was strapping two human children to their seat. He patted one on the head who was holding for dear life onto her teddy bear.

"Everyone secure?" Shepard asked coming down the ramp from the pilot's chair. A young man sat behind her, another survivor who looked so thin he might break. He knew how to fly a shuttle, so he had been elected to get them to the police station and bring back help. Castis nodded and she stopped to check on the barely conscious salarian. Boka offered a small smile; she squeezed his shoulder. "Stay with us, Boka. You're almost home."

He nodded, resting his head back. Watery eyes seemed to focus on her for a moment, "My father told me about you… he didn't exaggerate." His tunnel vision took over and Shepard checked him for a pulse. When she established there was one, weak but steady, she left his side.

Castis and Shepard watched the first transport vehicle rise up into the air and clear the building toward the police station. The force made the breeze kick up and Shepard pulled her hair up behind her head. Castis spoke beside her, watching the first group to make it safely out of sight.

"Garrus called me from Omega." Bodies lay around them. Some that were older in hazmat bags to be destroyed; the kidnappers work. And then in a group out of the way, lay the kidnappers. There wasn't that large of a defense for the transports.

Shepard looked up at him, Garrus had never told her that. "I could hear the gunfire. I knew the tone in his voice too."

Castis continued, turning his eyes to the ground. "I've never been more scared of losing my children until now."

She turned back toward the emergency stairs to follow them back up the way they had come. "We'll find them, Castis." Thanks to Boka, they now knew where to look.

xXx

"There are too many of them." Shepard sighed angrily. Boka had been right about the collector weaponry. They had been fighting for hours at this point and both of them were starting to tire. "We need to go around." Castis agreed wordlessly, looking out at the group of seven soldiers chattering amongst themselves. A group of hostages were sitting on the floor being surrounded.

 _"Why haven't they told us to move yet?"_ One hissed to another nearby. _"Eclipse didn't cause that much of a problem did they?"_ Another voice, _"Nah it's those two civilians that broke in."_

 _"Bullshit, those weren't civilians. They didn't act like any civilians I've seen. Military. Bet ya."_

 _"Look things have been pretty fucking good, but I didn't sign up for getting blasted out an government airlock. They'll give us life for some of this shit- if not just kill us on the spot."_

 ** _"Then you shouldn't have been doing it if you were so worried about the consequences!"_** A survivor's shout made her jump but she signaled to Castis to come with her. Shepard moved with him down another hallway that branched from where the group was. They would get to them later, since for now they were stalled and in the line of fire if everyone started shooting. Castis eyes couldn't help but linger on the stain on the wall and the one they stepped over. This looked like the hallway they saw Oseser and Solana in. Another fifty feet and they were coming around a corner when they heard the first screams. Shepard didn't jump this time, turning her body around to face the way they had come. Another pop and they both rose, running back.

Shepard skidded to a stop, aiming high to try to avoid the civilians on their knees or sitting on the floor. Someone spotted her and a sharp pain stung her side, but she dismissed it until she could look at it further. The guards turned to them, but three went down before they could make the whole rotation. It would have been four, but the stinging went up the length of her arm and she missed by centimeters. Castis took her with him, flinging them around a corner before the edge was chipped apart by gunfire.

She doubled-over for a second, "Shit-" Shepard hissed and Castis covered them, "How bad?!"

"We'll deal with it later!" Shepard winced and returned fire over Castis' head where he hugged the corner.

An exchange in gunfire later, the guards were either dead or bleeding out. Castis turned to Shepard, moving her arm out of her side. Two neat bullet holes punched through her rib plate on her left side. He turned her slightly, easing her down now she didn't have to stand.

"Clean through- by some miracle." Shepard leaned against the wall and he removed one of his medigels, peaking out to look at the remaining civilians still cowering like scared mice.

"Collector weapons." She muttered, then stiffened as Castis took off that piece of her armor to apply it. "They're made to stop first, kill if need be." He didn't offer a comment as she shook her head a little. Clearing it from some of the painkiller fog that came with the cool spongy gel. "I'm alright, Solana should be close."

She put the rib plate back into place and let her weak armor shield try to recharge. Though the two shots she had taken had practically disrupted it completely. Castis offered her a hand up and she took it with a grunt. They reloaded, walking toward the group of civilians.

"Who can still fight?"

xXx

After getting the newest group headed down to the transports, they took positions right outside the door of the 'trouble captive' room. Only seven of the original ten had survived their firefight but Shepard knew she would have to deal with the death count later. Doing it now would only be a distraction.

Castis had gotten sick on his stomach at this point; the entire floor was just offices and rooms that were padded. No windows and claw marks on the doors.

Whoever had been trouble had been locked in them until they behaved. That's what one guard had spat at them while he died… Shepard fixed her gaze on Castis, blinking the count before the door burst open on whoever was inside.

The sound scared the batarian half to death, and he took a step back from her with a drill still whirling in his hand. Shepard took the scene in quickly while Castis shot the man in the shoulder. Solana hung by her wrists on a rope that swung her slowly side from side. She spat out the gag in her mouth, "Told you!" Solana shouted at him as Castis moved in blur for an older turian.

Castis let out a terrifying roar, picking up the man who was about to do unspeakable things- _who might have already done them_ \- and threw him head first out the door. "Tend to her!" He ordered as the batarian's drill bounced to the floor. Castis looked like an entirely different person, "I'll be right back." The door shut behind them and it was quiet.

Solana breathed out a sigh of relief when the door shut, "I wasn't going to have as pretty of a face if you guys didn't get here when you did." She was doubled over, clutching one hand to her chest and her leg stuck out at an odd angle. Her bruised face looked up at the human woman, a half smile on her features even though it was pained.

"Jesus, Sol…" Shepard whispered, taking out another medigel. They went through this stuff like water on the Normady. She looked over her leg, then the hand Solana kept close to her chest. Wincing at the finger's. "All broken?"

The Turian gave a short nod. Shepard started to gather up what was left of the medigel. There wasn't that much left after herself and Boka. She'd have to get what was left of Castis' canister if Garrus was… _injured_. "When Castis gets back he'll take you to a transport-"

Solana looked up at her, "Did you find Garrus yet? Oseser?"

Her face grew grim as she answered the turian, "No, not yet."

The female grabbed her arm with her good hand, "Garrus is with the group two floors up. He's hurt. Near where Oseser was going. That bastard is fucking insane. He's going to start doing the last stages of whatever he's doing-"

"What _are_ they doing here? This is too big for just human trafficking. You had something with Oseser didn't you- how did you not see this?"

She shook her head, eyes downcast, "Look, I used to… to have a thing with Oseser. He was a hard-worker and strong- I broke it off when my clearance badges for work started going missing. He wanted me to join this gang of his- I thought it was a stupid _street_ gang! I told him to shove it and left. He kept showing up at my work and hassling me to come back but I thought I could handle it- I didn't… know about any of this."

She believed her, but that meant this was really as bad as she thought. Solana continued, "They're pushing drugs, weapons, humans- I heard something about Reapers too."

Shepard shook her head, "Don't worry about it now… Right now we need to find Garrus and get you both out of here. What the hell does he want with the reapers?"

"Money, drugs, girls, power over an entire race of monsters that could destroy us all over again, could be anyt-" Her face suddenly fell, "He's trying to undo what you did to destroy them. What do the Reapers need? Resources, people, weapons… food." The turian looked a little pale. When those words fell from Solana's lips, she stared at her for a few moments.

"Someone always wants more power than they can handle." The image of the Illusive Man popped inside her head, then a few others she had come face to face with. "Can't say his personality is too far off from them." Shepard shook her head, concern too hard to hide. "Then I need to stop him. Even if the Reapers can't be brought back in full, the damage he's already done I can't overlook.

Solana didn't say anything for a moment, "Things were different when I met him." She mumbled and Shepard got her up as the door opened. Castis stood there, nostrils flaring, black blood splattered on his face. Solana went forward to hug her father and he returned it, scooping her up into his arms when she faltered from her bad leg. "We need to get her out of here." He muttered, and Shepard agreed instantly. "You get her down to the transports."

Solana piped up, "What about Garrus?!"

"I'll find him."


	25. Believer

"Dad, you have to go back for her and Garrus." Solana gasped as she tried to rest her weight on the leg that wasn't injured. Castis winced at his daughter's pain, glancing behind them. There was only one group of hostages left as far as he knew- and they were several floors above them. Shepard had convinced him to get Solana to a transport and leave her to find his son…

"He's in good hands. You can't make it on your own anyway with that leg." He told her, his tone meant it wasn't up for debate. She looked up at him as gunfire rattled off in the distance.

"How did I not see this?" She whispered as Castis readjusted her. "I should have known…" Solana had her eyes downcast. He glanced at her, looking at the elevator ahead of them. He wouldn't risk it if her injuries weren't so severe. Flashing lights outside drew his attention out the window beside them and he leaned a little. "The police finally got off their asses." Castis sighed, trying to think of a way to console her. This would haunt them, like it would all those who had been held prisoner here.

"Sometimes… we miss things. We miss obvious facts about a person. And sometimes we see nothing but what we want to." Castis let the doors slide open for them to the elevator, and he moved them inside. "We have to admit we're wrong and move on as best we can." He bumped his head into her's gently. "Whether it's to apologize or to fight them another day… Hold yourself accountable, but don't dwell. Oseser will get his."

She rose her brow at him, "Talking about someone else in particular?" Castis let out a slow sigh as the elevator descended down toward the parking garage.

"I've recently revised my opinion of the Commander." He murmured as the elevator slowed to a stop a few floors from where they should have been. The electricity went out and he swore softly, "Hold on to me, Solana.. it's going to be a bumpy ride."

xXx

She was in the air vent. It was large enough for her to crouch in, but it wasn't her ideal position. A rifle sat heavily in her hands, her breathing came slow and steady. The squad they had narrowly avoided earlier were doing rounds inches from her, and it made her nerves twitch eagerly. Either that or it was the stiffness in her legs.

Shepard overheard a one sided conversation from one of the soldiers. They were still searching for them and they were certain they were still on this floor. She took solace that they didn't know about Castis and Solana trying to get down to the parking garage. One side of her hoped they would leave; just now she knew they would be out of the way. On the other, she didn't like the emptiness by her side Castis had filled up until now. She knew how to operate alone, but preferred when she didn't have to watch every inch of her ass in a firefight.

The two guards who had been loitering around outside the vent cover finally stepped away from each other. "Gotta piss." One grunted at the other and there was an answering huff. She listened for the footsteps to echo away. Taking out a knife from her boot she crept closer to the edge, setting the rifle down silently behind her now she had both hands free; one of the earlier guards she had killed had tried to give her a nasty kidney wound with it.

Without much noise besides the vent cover knocking into the back of the soldier's legs- effectively knocking him off balance- she put the knife right through his neck. There was gagging and very little struggle as he gripped weakly behind him for another few moments before going limp in her hands. Armor could bounce bullets off you all day with enough shielding… what they didn't tell you as it was rarely ever effective up close and personal. If she still had her personal omni-tool, she would have been able to do a lot more damage.

She shoved the body back into the air vent, removing her own gun before shutting the cover. The other guard would be back soon. At least the floor already had enough blood stains on it that she doubted he would really notice at first. Moving around the corner, she waited for the one who had given into his bodily functions. Red hair flopped into her face as she glanced at her visor. There were quite a few red dots up here and she doubted she would be able to explor-

A bomb went off.

Blasting her from the wall where she was crouched and into another room entirely.

Was it a bomb?

She was dazed, her visor had been knocked clean off. Her side had a brand new ache in it and she touched the armor side piece where she had been shot earlier, her hand coming away with fresh blood.

 _"The medi-gel must have been dislodged- fuck-"_

Despite the pain Shepard ducked down as soldiers scanned the room for her or looking for the source of the blast. "What the fuck was that?!" One shouted at the other, "Trap! Archangel escaped!"

Her green eyes snapped open and she rose from her place beneath the debris. A new fury and energy taking hold of her; perhaps it was just the adrenalin from being shot at all day and nearly blown to hell.

 _Archangel escaped._

She snapped off a few clean shots in their surprise. Smoke, plaster and dust made a thick cloud she could barely see through. A tell-tale hiss of a medical tank leaking nearby forced her to move. Limping down the hall, she scooped an abandoned helmet off the floor. It still had a bit of spin on it from being taken from someone's head.

Shepard jammed it on after pushing her hair out of her face. She was definitely getting a haircut after this. The helmet had a crack in it but the heads up display still flickered to life. The tank behind her exploded and she took cover, having the building shake a little. Hopefully it was an oxygen tank and not something worse. A hysterical laugh almost bubbled up in her throat, she had gotten so used to things exploding she willingly took one over more worse options- never mind the fact that exploding objects were _bad._ The entire hallway changed with the head's up display and she let out a slow breath, seeing green outlines of men on the floor. The original owner of the helmet hadn't had time to disable it. Good.

The smoke almost refused to clear, sprinklers had come on at this point; showering the halls in flame resistant gel. It made things slick, so as the guards made it up the hallway from checking the west exam rooms- they weren't ready for Shepard running full speed down the hallway at them. When they raised their weapons she dropped, sliding across the floor as she opened fire. One actually tried to run and slipped himself. She stepped out of her slide, bringing up the weapon again. Another rattle of gunfire and the squad she and Castis had ran into earlier was gone.

She mentally counted them inside her head, breathing hard as her side stung. Matrix sliding down the hallway wasn't her most intelligent idea but it had _worked_. _"Six total. Body in the vent. First explosion got one. I got two afterward. Then the two who were in the hallway…"_ Shepard realized her mistake thinking they didn't have backup when she went up another floor. As soon as she rounded the stairwell corner she saw several men and Oseser himself in front of her.

There wasn't much time to take in why they were in the hallway, or even why Oseser had braved out his hiding place. None the less, when their eyes met he let out a fearsome roar, startling his men more so than Shepard. There was no time to duck behind cover, no time to think besides to raise her rifle. All thought of capturing Oseser alive went out the window as an image of how they found Solana flickered inside her head. Then the hostages they had rescued- some could barely even walk. Children, no matter the species, had been ripped away from their homes and families _because of this bastard_. She let out a battle cry of her own, firing at him. If she was going to die, she was going to die fighting. And she would personally ride Oseser's corpse to Hell if she had to.

Another explosion ripped the hallway in half, sending her falling backward. It collapsed the ceiling and made an effective wall between her and Oseser. She could hear him screaming swears and orders from the other side- rubble being clawed through too. Her ears rang and she put a hand on her side. Undoubtedly she would have died just then- she might have gotten Oseser, but the rest of his men would have put her down. Whatever or whomever bought her a few more moments to find Garrus, she would thank later.

Shepard pulled herself off the floor, not even realizing she was gasping for breath. The smoke grew thicker and she had to completely rely on her helmet visor that was blinking in and out to see in front of her. A red blurred outline appeared at the end of the hall going the opposite direction, even though she couldn't see what it actually was. She held her breath, moving low down the hallway. Her suit was damaged and the helmet filters weren't doing that great of a job. There were small fires littering the ground from debris and soldiers who had been killed in earlier fights she had to make her way around and over to follow the red 'enemy' outline.

The figure was in a hurry; whether it was Garrus or another survivor she was going to find it. The blur disappeared as her helmet malfunctioned from the crack. She smacked the side of it and it came back to life for a moment. "Hold on a little longer…"

xXx

Garrus was trying to get this god damn lock open and he was not happy it wasn't cooperating. The gunfire and explosions in the distance weren't helping his nerves. Where he was in the hallway he couldn't see if someone was going to come up on him from behind. Another blinking red light and a soft female voice that seemed to irritate rather than calm told him, _"Access denied."_

He'd cut off Oseser from the elevators for now; but it wouldn't take them long to get through his half-assed defenses. One could only make so much from an abandoned janitor closet and some well-placed oxygen tanks.

He hissed angrily as the lock blinked red again and he nearly put his fist through it. Even that seemed like a better plan than trying to get a stupidly high security lock to work with him. His brain was fogged with pain, his heart was beating out of his chest, and his stomach was twisted with the questions that just wouldn't quit biting at the edge of his mind.

 _"Had she really gone over? Where was Solana- Dad? Mom? Why is Eclipse starting a firefight with Oseser's bunch of mercs? What happened to the other hostages? Did he lose her again? There was too much firepower here, how was he going to get these hostages out? Where would he take them? When this door unlocked how would he even convince them to follow him? Where was Oseser now? Shepard…"_

He rested his head on the door for a moment, taking a moment to keep his mind on what he was doing. Those sort of questions right now where going to get him killed. Right here and now is what he needed to be worried about. What he _needed_ to do was rescue the hostages he'd been stuck with earlier, find Solana, shoot Oseser several times, and then get out of here alive… Then go back to where they had been ambushed to find his father and… _her,_ or figure out where they took them. He just had to get past this fucking lock first.

A buzz of a taser fired up behind him. He'd heard so many of them he could practically recite the model numbers by heart. Garrus knew that his position was exposed, and rolled to the left to get out of the way of the taser's first strike. The taser made a high pitched static sound as it bounced off the door behind him and the prongs vibrated the floor. He was on his back, pointed at the soldier who had snuck up on him.

Garrus pulled the trigger and his stomach dropped several floors into the lobby. The pistol's cartridge malfunctioned. The soldier came closer, reloading the taser quickly. _"I've got Arch-."_ Garrus stood, ready to use this broken pistol as a bludgeoning tool if he took another step.

He dropped to the ground without him firing a shot. Garrus side stepped as the other leaned forward, smacked into the door, and lay still with a two bullets in the back of the head.

He wasn't ugly enough to scare them to death yet, was he?

Out of the smoke and the ashes of the building falling apart around him another soldier stepped into view. The gun was pointed downward now, a wisp of smoke coming from the end of the mussle. His gun was half-raised, wondering if this was not-so-friendly fire. This one didn't know his gun wasn't working, right? Could he grab the taser faster than they could shoot him? He doubted it.

Two more soldiers, apart of Oseser's personal guard came down the hallway and were both shot twice in the head thinking the one in front of the turian was on their side. Garrus could only stand and watch as they dropped too. Soon as they were down, his rescuer removed her helmet. It was almost like his world went into slow motion. His breath escaped him, _"Shepard!"_

They were on each other in a second; Garrus wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Shepard kissed him, resting her forehead against his, "I thought I lost you for a second." She whispered to him, pulling away because they were in fact- still in a very bad situation.

"They told me you went over." Garrus didn't pull away from her too far, still not completely sure she was there in front of him. A little of her blood got on him and he immediately checked her over.

"It's a through and through. You?" She readied her weapon. There was a brief flicker of a smile on her features, as if he could believe a cliff would be the end of her. "I did."

"Got me a few times, but nothing that'll be a permanent addition." Garrus had to see the wound for himself, but ultimately agreed on her diagnosis. "That's my girl." He pushed the hair out of her face, his fingers lingered there for a moment, "Where's Dad? Solana?"

Shepard touched his hand, "We've been busy. Most of the hostages are safe. Solana told me you were with the last batch. Castis is with her in the parking garage."

"We've?" A soldier rounded the corner and Shepard shot her. He hit the floor and Shepard gestured for him to return to the lock. She was thankful for few seconds she had been given to realize she'd found him in one piece and not what her head had been telling her she'd find.

"Let's get that door open. I'll explain later." There was shouting and radio chatter from down the hall. Garrus went back to work on the lock as the redhead took a position at the corner. More opposition, but this time her aim was even better than before. What had Garrus said once? _Now she had something to lose and an aim to make sure she didn't._

"Time to go!" The door slid open and beeped loudly, trying to shut again immediately afterward. Garrus put himself between it, holding it open for her to dive between him and the door. She held it open from the other side long enough for him to slip through too. He stood up from his roll, looking around the room.

It was empty. The soldiers didn't follow them and Shepard stuck close by the door, hearing the chatter and then retreat. That never, ever, meant well. "It wasn't a secret were getting the hostages out. Do you think Oseser took them? I saw him on this floor earlier."

"Where would he take them? You've got the parking garage secured. Half the building is on fire. Elevator access is shut down for the most part." Garrus walked farther into the room, seeing people's make-shift sleeping arrangements littered around the room.

 _"Vakarian."_ The intercom buzzed over their head. _"You know, Jordi warned me about you. That I'd be biting off more than I could chew. Especially when Commander Shepard so heroically came to rescue you."_

Garrus looked at Shepard, nodding toward the door. This was a trap if he ever saw one- and he had seen a lot of them. An image on one of the patient record screens flickered to life. Supplies had been abandoned here without the power ever being turned off. Every working screen came on in the room and outside of it. Broadcasting to the entire hospital. Oseser appeared on it in the parking garage and Shepard's lips became a thin line. _"Jordi and I have a little bet going. I can rebuild everything I've built here- again… and again. So a few hostages getting away doesn't bother me. But_ you, _you bother me."_ He tapped on the camera screen, _"And frankly, you're on my last nerve."_

Off screen someone yelled in pain and a young woman was dragged into the picture. She struggled against Oseser's grip. _"Now I'm going to have a hostage shot every ten minutes until I see you in front of me on the top floor. You and the Commander both."_ He held her by her neck and pressed a pistol to her temple. _"And just to make sure you know I'm_ very _serious."_

He pulled the trigger once and dropped the woman. There was screaming from more hostages in the garage. Oseser grinned at the camera, a jagged toothed smile and a bleeding face wound froze before it went dark. They stared at the screen a few more moments. Solana and Castis were headed down there and they had no way to warn them away.

"We have to go." He said softly, taking the rifle that Shepard offered him.

She gave a single nod, not looking away from the now black screen. "I know."


	26. Judgement Day

"Sir, we've got Shepard in the elevator."

Oseser looked up at the nervous Batarian from the map pinned on the table top. The entire hospital had been searched twice and the alien had brought him nothing but bad news all day. Archangel had escaped. Solana had been rescued. Shepard was killing off half his army with the help of an old, ex-cop turian. He leaned upward, dragging his talons across the blue prints of the next base he was planning on moving to. The hospital would be burned to the ground, just to make sure the evidence that could be used to track them was gone. "And Vakarian?"

He shifted where he was standing, "Supposedly Vakarian succumbed to his injuries. That's what she told us." The room seemed a little too hot suddenly as Oseser stood at his full height. He snapped his fingers at three men who were taking a smoke break a few feet away. They jumped up, moving to have guns trained on the elevator where Oseser's pointed.

"And you just believed her? I didn't know we were running a trust foundation you fucking moron." Oseser narrowed his eyes at him as the redhead was lead from the elevator toward them. There was a hub of computers and guards around him as he glanced at his little timer on his desk. 9:58. Two minutes to spare… now wasn't that punctual.

When things seemed too easy, they usually were. Oseser came down the stairs toward Shepard, "Now I thought Archangel had enough balls to not let his woman come to fight his battles. But then again, I did ask for both of you didn't I." He hummed, leaning a little to get a good look at those green eyes. "Come to turn him in for the winning team?" His voice took a purr, "They told me you were smart. Strange that I heard you retired."

Shepard cracked her face from it's bored expression, lips pulling back into a snarl. "I've killed off more than half of your forces today. How's it feel to have your ass handed to you by a god damn retiree?"

Oseser chuckled, "Ohhh feisty. Lemme guess you volunteered to come in here and distract us while Vakarian sets up one hell of a trap for us?" He walked around her, like a predator stalking prey. His face got disgusting close to her's for a moment and Shepard was certain she could feel her skin crawl. "He's right outside that elevator for whomever I send to look for him, huh?"

Her face fell, her eyes downcast in a pained expression, "No. I'm here to negotiate the release of the last of the hostages you have. Garrus is dead. You bastards nearly beat him to death."

Oseser hissed like a snake, "Then where's the body, _Commander?_ You think I'm _that stupid_ to believe that Vakarian isn't alive? _I've tried to kill him before_! Archangel- little Garrus Vakarian- is much harder to kill than that." His hand shot out and gripped her by the armor front. Her hands were tied behind her back and she winced at the grip. Oseser shook her. "Where's the fucking body?!" He shouted at her again, shaking her roughly until she felt a little dizzy.

"Downstairs- on the stairwell- where I was-." He dropped her with a shove and he rounded on several of his men who were staring at him from the computers. A little fear mixed with their expressions.

"Find it on the cameras! I want a visual." He ordered as the Batarian from before cleared his throat.

"Sir, should I tell the others to hold on killing the hostages?"

Oseser rounded on him, "Did I tell you to tell them anything? I asked for Vakarian AND Shepard. Until I get both, I don't give a damn if they run out of hostages to repaint every transport we have!" The Batarian nodded, putting down the phone and standing well out of Oseser's way.

Shepard swallowed roughly when Oseser leaned over one of his techs to look at the image on the screen. A turian did lay dead there on the stairwell. His neck broken and lying in a crumbled bloody heap. "Jordi!" He yelled and an Asari stepped out from the other side of the room, "Have two men make sure that's Vakarian." He was suspicious and that had kept him alive this long. Jordi bowed her head to him, whistling to have a few men find the body.

Shepard counted who remained. Oseser, Jordi, the team of three that brought her up, five guards milling about and three techs.

Oseser turned back to her, "So if that is Vakarian… what are you willing to bargain with. Just to humor you in this attempt to make me not slaughter everyone in this building."

Shepard narrowed her eyes at him, "Me. I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy." He shrugged, like this wasn't anything worth having. She continued, "I have spectre status on every port that's heard of the Alliance. No one knows I'm here and I'm on vacation for several months without contact. I can get you anywhere. Much better than Solana's credentials. Not only that, I can only imagine what your boss would say if you had me working for you."

Oseser had his head cocked to the side, "My father told me never to trust a woman who was just as good of a bullshitter as you are." He murmured, running a hand over his cheekbone with the crack in it. "And why would you work with us? You're the posterchild for paragon decisions everywhere."

"Because I'm not getting out of here alive, neither are those hostages, unless you're either dead or alright with it." She gestured with her chin around the room. "And since I can't kill you, I'll have to placate you. That's my terms. Ask Aria if you think I won't work with someone I don't like just to get a job done. Hell, speaking of Aria, I might even be able to get Eclipse off your back permanently."

"And how do you think you can do that?"

"I made out with her once."

Oseser narrowed his eyes at her, getting closer to her to see if she would shy away from him. She didn't, her eyes flickered down to the crack on his face to his black eyes. "I like the way you think. Cold, calculating. Fact driven... _Ruthless_." He stared at her another second to see if she wavered before backing away. Shouting at the Batarian, "Tell them to slow the killing fields until I have an answer from Jordi."

As soon as the phone was set down, several shots rang out. Shepard was moving now, her hands coming out of the handcuffs and tossed in the face of one of her captors before they were going to have a large bruise on their groin. Her other captive shot at anyone who reacted fast enough to her breaking free, before tearing off his helmet. Garrus crouched behind cover as Oseser snarled, using one of his own men as a shield when Shepard tried to shoot him. Garrus used what grenades Shepard had left to even the odds between them and Oseser's group. Red dust filled the air and they went to move to another spot, flanking those who were still upright.

A figure came running through the flickering lights- sprinklers had burst in the room coating everyone and everything with the fire resistant gel. One soldier let out a gasping sigh of relief, since he had been on fire moments before. The techs took cover, knowing when their job security had almost literally gone out the window.

Jordi came out of nowhere, vaulting over several corpses to kick Garrus so hard he slid back several feet. Her hand to hand skills were almost as good as his were. Shepard tried to give him cover fire, unable to help him now anyway. The few soldiers that remained were disoriented and more likely to shoot each other than the actual targets; yet still managed to pepper her cover every now and then. Shepard chose her targets, but picked the wrong moment to look for Garrus. He was still rolling around on the floor with Jordi who was hell bent on strangling him to death.

Someone knocked into her, taking the gun right out of her hands and slamming it against the wall. There was radio chatter in her ear. _"It's a fake- it's one of ours on the stairwell in Vakarian's clothing! Vakarian is still alive!"_ A shadow came over her as Oseser loomed over her, looking evil with the emergency lights on and sprinkler gel dripping off his features. He pulled her up by her neck, "Good plan." He hissed as her throat couldn't even form a sound. She scrambled for a knife on her belt and he pressed himself against her. Keeping her throat tightly in his hand and his body weight pinning her to the wall now she couldn't squirm. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… I'll fucking kill you!"

"Should have done that the moment I showed up!" She snarled, balling up her fist and hitting him between his jaw and his mandible. When he pulled away from her she jabbed her thumb into his eye. He hissed in pain, giving her enough time to counter attack. Shepard and Garrus sparred often, and she knew how to attack a Turian. Eyes, neck, mandible and underneath their crest were always harsh places to hit. She'd even made Garrus nearly cry once, kicking him in the jaw.

She drove her attacker back until he was tripping over himself trying to get away _, trying_ to get back on his feet as she pushed forward. Shepard knew she didn't have the strength or the reach, but she had the flexibility and speed. While he was close she put a well place boot to the side of his face; while he was still in shock that she had even gotten away from him in the first place. She spun, twisting away from his grip all together. The seconds she used to try to gain distance on him and back toward her weapon; he used to advance and picked her up like a rag doll.

Oseser gripped around her arm to swing her back to him- throwing Shepard to smash into one of the desks that had been thrown by the blast. Her head snapped into it and she felt pain blossom in her skull. He picked her up by the waist and slammed her several more times into the floor then through a row of computer screens. Glass shattered and cut into her exposed skin, but she still moved to get across the floor away from the turian. She shook her head before Oseser was on her again. He lifted her up and threw her halfway across the room into a control panel. The air was knocked out her and she felt the new medi-gel dislodge in her side and it was very hard to breathe suddenly. Blood came up her throat and she rolled off the table, gasping for breath.

Someone screamed her name but she couldn't tell from where or who it was. She could no longer see where Garrus and Jordi were in the room- only Oseser walking toward her. His own mouth was dripping gobs of blue. He picked her up and laid her on the desk- hitting Shepard again and again until her vision was spotted and she couldn't quite think anymore. Oseser's white markings were stained with the blood of his men and his captives. How much suffering had he caused?

"You think I don't know who you are? What you came here to do to me? To take everything away from me? I know everything- every move you make!" His voice was in her ear and she slapped his hands away from her before Oseser punched her across the face. His hands were tight around her throat again, and her fingers gripped at the talons crushing her wind pipe. What was it with these people and choking? "I know everything about this! I know everything about how to keep it safe! I even know child sized organs sell for the best prices! But I bet I'll get an even bigger pay back for Commander Shepard's! I'll skin you alive and mount you on my wall!" He took out the knife from Shepard's belt and held it over her head. "I'll start from your ankles and go towards your pretty green eyes. Make Garrus watch as you screa-!"

There was another roar as Shepard's vision was starting to tunnel. "Garrus!" She gasped as Oseser was practically lifted up and off of her. She sat up wheezing for air and hacking, getting a discarded gun off the floor and tried to aim where Oseser was. It wasn't Garrus who was pushing him off her.

Castis put his full weight into each of his swings, driving Oseser back by a few feet at a time. There was gunfire and Jordi slumped off Garrus. Shepard rose to fire at those soldiers who remained that had only been stalling to not hit Oseser or Jordi. Garrus scrambled to get to Castis, who could only hold back the younger Turian for so long.

"You should have stayed at home, old man!" Oseser was backed against the window paneling of the building. The darker Turian tried to use the knife he'd taken from Shepard, only for it to be taken away from him and thrown away. It stuck into the window, spider webbed cracks coming out of the place it had cut into.

The older Turian continued to push him back until they were up against the rapidly cracking glass. Throwing each other into it- trying to shove one another out of the window. They came at each other like two raging titans and Shepard screamed a warning about the glass as it shattered from Oseser being bounced off of it. The knife spiraled below and Oseser took them down to the floor to avoid being kicked out.

They wrestled on the ground before Castis was flat on his back. There was too much going on all at once- Castis punched him, shoving something into Oseser's opened mouth when he looked like he was going to take a bite out of the elder Turian.

"Choke on it!" Castis yelled and kicked Oseser out with all of his might. Oseser lost his balance being on the edge of the window, and fell backwards pulling the grenade from his mouth only moments too late.

They heard the scream and the explosion on the way down. Garrus slid to a stop beside his father, getting him out of the way of the window just in case the building crumbled apart any further than it already had today. There were sounds of police sirens and transports hovering around outside.

Castis looked up at his son, hugging him tightly, then nearly dropped. Garrus helped support him, more likely holding each other up than just one or the other. Shepard who came closer to them, holding her side. She looked out at the police far below. "It's over." She whispered, looking at the two Vakarians who looked as good as she did.

Garrus huffed a laugh, "And here I had this bad cop routine all planned out."

xXx

When they arrived at the Vakarian home, they were surprised to see that nothing was out of place in the slightest. Vetra greeted them from in the kitchen- with an icepack for Shepard, several piles of medical supplies and extra ammo laid out on the table. She was mopping a rather hideous blood stain off the kitchen floor. "Oh! Good to see you extended your stay after all!" Vetra greeted Shepard as soon as she saw her, an affectionate pat on the arm. "There's some treats in the oven."

Shepard, nor Garrus, could really form words. Castis greeted her with an affectionate head bump and a loud purr. She returned it, placing her arms around him too. "I had some house guests earlier. I stuck them in the basement if you'd like to have a chat with them later about their manners, dear." Garrus looked at his parents, then at Shepard. Vetra handed the mop to him, "Once you've gotten bandaged up would you help me clean that up, Garrus. I'm not as good as I used to be at getting that mess out of the floorboards." There was a sigh, "At least we went with the coated floors when we remodeled." Garrus could do nothing but nod as Castis lead her away, talking softly to her about what had happened.

"Your parents are _awesome_." She finally said to Garrus when they left the room, who was still holding the mop. Solana was at the hospital with the other civilians that had been rescued. The police had hounded them for information, but she had pushed through the majority with her spectre status. It would hold them off until they thought to come there for statements. She certainly wouldn't be leaving the planet without being held for a statement or twelve. The news had been camped outside, chomping at the bit for any information as to why a dead turian had landed on the police chief's car with his head blown clean off by a grenade blast. "Even the Vakarians who were librarians are dangerous."

Garrus glanced at her, "Some say more so." He leaned the mop against the counter top, coming closer to her. "Let's get a look at you." The turian urged.

Shepard sighed, setting her weapon on the kitchen countertop. It had been practically glued to her hand all day. "Can it wait until after a shower?"

The Turian nodded, "That's not a bad idea. Soon as dad is done explaining what happened to mom, we'll be going back to the hospital to make sure Solana is fine. And you're getting an exam too- you had your medi-gel beat out of you."

She cracked a smile, leaning against him for a moment. "I'm like a twinkie."

Garrus face grew more concerned for her, "I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound good."

"It really isn't." She laughed, "You wouldn't like it as much as chicken."

They took peace in this quiet moment. No gunfire, no cries of pain or scared whispers of hostages. Just them. They had made it. Survived… _somehow._

A strangled yell jerked both of them out of their hushed laughter. _"Garrus! Help me- your mother just collapsed!"_


	27. Lay It All On Me

Waiting made her sick to her stomach. And that was ironic to think about while sitting in the middle of a hospital. Where she was on a scratchy couch intersected four other rooms, making one large meeting spot for families to wait in. Like a separate bubble from the rest of the hospital. The other three rooms were completely empty, so Shepard had had the joint living space to herself for the most part of the last day they had been there. The room directly to her left had two beds, side by side, with Solana and Vetra in them. At least they had a private bathroom in it, complete with a shower. So the events of yesterday had been theoretically washed away for the most part.

The hospital hadn't contacted the police yet solely on Castis' word. Which surprised her that they simply agreed and checked them all in- covered in blood with a fainted woman on their hands. Apparently that was a normal thing. The television was on mute in front of her, and a magazine lay open beside her. Her eyes flickered across the bottom of the screen. Subtitles kept getting in the way of the more important news, so she was forced to pay attention to the woman on the screen when the commercials for Turian skin cream and decorative crest tattoos went off. She had nearly punched that newscaster too.

 _"This is Khalisah al-Jiani for the Westerlund News. I'm standing outside Durmac N'Glover Memorial, where firefighters have just put out the inferno. As you can see behind me, there was a bloody battle that waged inside it's halls late yesterday afternoon. There seems to be that there are almost a hundred armed guards dead- some belonging to the notorious Eclipse and others from a local gang, Legion."_ The camera panned across body bags laid out and police trying to keep the reporters off the scene. " _We've gotten several reports that a underground criminal empire right in the heart of Palavin's capital city has been discovered and utterly destroyed by two- possibly three- unknown civilian militia. The police, if they know the identity of these individuals, have not released their names. We'll update you on the hour about survivors and more."_

Shepard wondered if the police had any idea who had actually been there. She had only given one person her name that she remembered and she didn't have a clue about what happened to the Salarian. It wasn't like she was in the position to go wandering around the hospital to see if he had been brought here either. _Could she ask a nurse? Would they tell her?_

Even when Castis was throwing a fit at the police station when this had all started, she hadn't given her name… She shifted her legs underneath her- the hospital was colder than what she was used to on this planet. It seemed weeks ago that Castis had gone to the police with her, not just two days. _Was it just two days?_

Vetra's main nurse, Tyre, walked past her; pushing a cart of food around, handing out lunch for those who were staying with them a while. The most she had had was a pudding cup and thanked her for the sandwich. It was surprising how many people didn't even recognize her here in the hospital. Though it didn't bother her either. She supposed that she was on enough billboards and holograms that people just didn't recognize the 'real' face versus what the media photo-shopped. Scars and bruises didn't do well for the front of magazines. The last thing she needed with half of her family in recovery is the press beating down the door about her doing a commando raid on an abandoned hospital.

 _Her family…_

She paused in her train of thought, before turning her head to look back into the room on her left. Castis was at Vetra's bedside, her hand in his. They were all worried. Though Vetra hadn't been physically hurt by the ambush, her Corpalis Syndrom had taken a turn for the worse with the stress. She didn't understand all the issues that surrounded her ailment, but knew that they could very well lose her this time from how gravely the doctor and Castis had explained it. Her brain was swelling, as was her heart- an issue with Corpalis if it was either left untreated or there was too much stress on the brain. Her eyes flicked over to Solana, who had Vetra's other hand in hers. Her leg was at an awkward angle so she could be next to her mother and still have her leg in a sling hung in the air.

Garrus sat beside her, legs crossed and reading over the doctor's notes he had gotten _completely_ legally. He hadn't said much to her, or really anyone, since they had arrived. Shepard couldn't blame him- he had a lot on his mind. So did she.

The police were bound to arrive any moment after they figured out who was actually there. The Salarian- Boka- would tell them- if they didn't just look at camera footage from the security room. She needed a contingency plan for when that happened too. They would probably arrest her at first, take her to the station and then question her. They would try to take Castis and Garrus too… whoever wasn't tied to a bed by an IV. Then leave officers to watch them. Alliance soldiers had done something similar to her when she had been grounded after the whole Cerberus issue. One would think they'd be a little appreciative for rooting not only issues with their police department but taking out an entire ring of smugglers. And that wasn't even half of what they were involved with.

What really worried her was that there were still so many questions left. Oseser had mentioned Reaper technology- "- _were people really trying to harvest Reaper's after all that this galaxy has seen?_ "She sipped at her bottle of water. Oseser had mentioned his boss half a dozen times to her- who was controlling the controller? Her leg bounced a little in thought, fading out from the hospital around her. There was no doubt that she would be returning to the Normandy now.

But Vetra and Solana were in bad shape. So was Garrus, though he'd never admit it. Shepard wouldn't voice aloud, even to herself, that Garrus was trying to act like this didn't affect him at all to stay calm. And it undoubtedly did.

Hell, she was sitting in oversized sweat pants and a tank top two sizes too large for her. That was all the hospital had currently after they had peeled off the 'borrowed' Asari armor and all the rest of her clothing was burnt to a crisp with the Vakarian family vehicle. A hand came and rested on her bouncing leg, she blinked at Garrus who hadn't looked away from his data pad. He moved his arm to wrap around her but didn't comment on the television in front of them that briefly switched to sports before going onto another. "Anything I can do?" She asked him quietly, now no one else could hear.

He shook his head ever so slightly, "We just have to wait for the treatment to go through. See what happens from there." Garrus set the pad down and rubbed his eyes, "This has been one hell of a vacation for you hasn't it."

"If our vacations didn't include at least one explosion I might be disappointed." She hummed quietly, a small smile on her face. The redhead leaned up for a moment to put her hair in a ponytail, a few strands falling into her face anyway. They were quiet again for a little while, flicking through the channels together. Garrus glanced up at the hallways outside their 'bubble' room. She'd personally hate to see what quarantine looked like if they took this much care to keep their noncontagious patients separated.

The doctor walked in through the sliding glass door, interrupting their brief peaceful moment together. A male Turian who had purple facepaint and a data pad in one hand stopped before them, "Mr. Vakarian?" Garrus looked up when he spoke, removing his arm from around her shoulder's to stand up to be addressed. By the look on the doctor's face, he wasn't very approving of it being there in the first place. Inwardly she rolled her eyes as Garrus approached him. She was completely _over_ worrying about what other people thought of their relationship.

"I'm Garrus Vakarian, my father is with my mother. Can I help you with something?" He gestured toward the room where the other Vakarians were. The doctor glanced in that direction before returning his gaze to Garrus, seeming unconcerned by the knowledge.

"I see your name on this processing paperwork. May I speak with you for a moment?" Garrus furrowed his brow in concern but nodded. Shepard watched them both go, sharing a worried look with him. She turned back around to turn off the television and nervously tidied her area from lunch and the stray magazine. It was too quick to really distract her- and the longer she thought about what the doctor had to say to Garrus the more it made her leg bounce. The ring around her finger took a few turns too, a new habit of nervousness she had taken to.

She finally got up after about twenty minutes, glancing at the sleeping figures in the hospital room before letting herself out. The door hissed metallically as it allowed her into a nurses' station- connected to several more joining rooms with patients inside. No one stopped her as she made her way to the little hub. "Excuse me, ma'am?" She asked to another Turian, who glanced up at her.

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Vakarian?" Her mouth dropped slightly at that, staring at her for a moment. _"Garrus must have checked me in under his last name now it didn't draw attention."_ Shepard _was_ a well-known name, and explained why the press hadn't found them just yet. She cleared her throat, dropping her voice an octave and ignored her face heating up. She rather _liked_ the sound of that name in her direction.

"I know this is a weird thing to ask, but was there a Salarian by the name of Boka brought in earlier? He's a friend of mine and I wanted to know if he was okay." The Turian cocked her head at her, taking her in for a moment. Her eyes slightly widened, as if she had figured out something. There was a half second pause before she started to speak while typing on her computer. "I can't give out that information… but if a Salarian was brought in earlier by that name. He'd be in bad shape, but will recover." She gave her a strong stare and a flicker of a smile, "Thank you for your service. I had family off planet that came home safe after the war."

Shepard nodded once, a little relief making her chest ease it's tightness. The nurse was quiet about her realization too, which made her even happier. "I'm glad to hear it. Thank you… and I'm glad it worked out." _So many situations hadn't._

She turned to go back to their room when she saw Garrus down the hall. He opened an empty private exam room and slammed the door behind him. Her brow furrowed, glancing back at the nurse who had returned to files on her desk. The redhead stepped quickly down the hall, making sure who ever was there to see wasn't looking in her direction. There was a crash inside the room and she jerked a little. Shepard half expected the doorknob to be locked, "Garrus?" She opened the door, letting herself in and shutting it behind her.

The room was dark and Garrus stood in the center. A broken chair lay in pieces underneath the window and an empty bed was turned over- sheets strewn and ripped. Pieces of a patient tray were scattered on most every service; one leg still stuck into the side of the wall. The patient room was empty, but definitely destroyed. He was shaking; a little stream of light coming from the half closed curtains highlighted his distraught expression. "What's wrong?!" She crossed the distance as he sat on the edge of the overturned bed, then slid to the floor. The sound he was making wasn't one she had heard often. Shepard kneeled down in front of him as he hung his head.

His voice was stiff, strained when he spoke. There was a soft growling choke that sounded heartbreaking to her because she knew what the human equivalent was _._ "The treatment isn't paid for here. Only on Helos. It's been shut down since the war. Staff needed elsewhere."

She swallowed, "Can we get treatments on Palavin at all?" Shepard was running through their options and coming up with alternative avenues. Helos was the treatment center the Turian Hierarchy had approved for Vetra's treatment. But like many facilities, it had to be temporarily shut down due to the need for medical staff across the galaxy.

Garrus nodded slowly, the thick sound in his throat backing off a little. He leaned his head back, shutting his eyes tightly. "He _refuses_ to treat a lost cause. I tried to get her set up for the first rounds and he refuses to do it. None of the other doctors are trained to do the treatments either- that bastard-. He's signing her death certificate!"

Shepard stiffened, "He can't just refuse to treat a patient!"

The Turian opened his eyes, his pupils were blown wide, "He can. If a doctor rules out that it's a lost cause then he can refuse treatment. Good of the many over one person, all that _bullshit_ … And she's not going to last long enough to get a second opinion- even if I knew who to go to for this... She's only got a few hours… There's no way of even knowing that the treatments will even help her at this point."

His voice cracked a little as he put his head in his hands and Shepard moved closer to him, pulling him into a hug. He had been through too much today and it was starting to wear on him. Garrus Vakarian was _not_ the type of man to breakdown. She kissed his temple, not saying anything for a few moments. He'd been kidnapped, tortured, and now he was going to lose his mother. Not to mention all the rest of the day of uncovering a criminal organization that nearly killed his entire family multiple times.

The realization of this all hit her differently. She grew quiet, listening to Garrus' choked keening ease out slowly. She held him to her, staring at the door they had come through. In a few hours she may be sitting in a jail cell for all she knew. The Normandy, the wedding, Vetra, the outcome of this whole situation was… _uncertain._

"Come on. We need to go back before security finds us in here." Shepard whispered to him, brushing her fingers over his face. Her thumb brushed over his scars. "We've been through a lot... and we'll make it past this too." She promised him, and he nodded. Swallowing hard as he pressed a kiss to her head without a word. A silent thank you for her dealing with him, even if they both knew he'd do the same for her- and had done it in the past.

They left the room quickly, avoiding the nurse's station as they made it back. Garrus froze on the spot at the entrance to his mother's room. His breath caught in his throat as he saw her laying there. Shepard stood beside him, "Go in." She whispered, giving the Turian a gentle push, "I've got something I've got to check, then I'll be right there with you." The larger glanced at her, before he let himself in. She waited until the door shut to turn on her heel.

Shepard didn't care if she was in foam sandals and looked like a rag doll. She needed to talk to that doctor. Thane's voice was soft in the back of her mind for a moment, _"The truth is that transport stations have seen more sincere kisses than wedding halls, and the walls of hospitals have heard more prayers than the walls of a church. Surprisingly, both are watched and listened to."_ She sucked in breath as she saw the doctor down the hall and bee-lined for him.

"Doctor? I need to speak with you for a moment." Vega would have called that the Commander voice, and the doctor turned around from the monitor he was examining.

Her arms crossed and the doctor shifted in the spot, slightly away from her, "Yes?"

"My _husband_ just informed me that you refused to treat my mother-in-law. May I ask why?" The Turian sighed, adjusting the nameplate he wore.

"As I told Mr. Vakarian, his mother's case is too far gone. The best we can do is ease her suffering until she passes. His medical insurance doesn't cover the treatments and his remaining options are limited to the time limit she has." Shepard's eyes narrowed at him slightly.

"So you're saying that if his medical insurance covered the treatments, she might have more options." The doctor paused again, looking from side to side like he was being put into a tight spot.

"Technically yes, we could start an emergency round of treatments to ease the swelling and move from there." She didn't know what pissed her off more- the fact that he was so willing to give up on someone due to the lack of funds or that he was so candid about it.

"How much is the treatment?" There was a bark of a laugh from the doctor and Shepard stared him down. "I don't see what was funny about that."

The laughter died almost immediately in the doctor's throat and he cleared it, "Ma'am, not to offend you but I've had experience with Vetra's case before. I referred Solana to the Helos Institute the first time due to the severed of their case and the lack of ability to pay their bills. And personally, I don't think you can afford the treatment."

The room dropped a few degrees, and she leaned in to read his nametag he'd adjusted. "Alright, _Doctor Vali."_ The redhead stepped closer to him, "Either do this _my way_ , or I'll have one of your staff pull the billing records for me. Then I will spend _every waking moment_ of the next few years finding exactly everyone you've pissed off and tell them exactly what you've been doing with your patients. _Something_ tells me with that personality you have a fair few." Her voice was soft and intense, "All the patients family's _you've refused_ to treat when they were savable and all those you've more than likely let _die_ just because you don't _think_ they can cover the bill…" She knew this was low, but honestly, Chakwas would have kicked him very hard between his legs so one could say she was being nice. "Obviously you know what they could do with that information."

He had his teeth gritted, growling at her. "You can't speak to me that way. I don't care who you think you are-." She stepped even closer to him, green eyes glaring into his soul.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy. I know several members of the Turian Hierarchy and one I think would be personally _delighted_ to hear from me. _Push me_ , Doctor. I promise you that will be the last bad decision concerning someone else's life you'll ever make."

Reptilian eyes narrowed at her, "How very paragon of you." He pulled up a file on his data pad and offered it to her, several rounds of treatments were listed on there as well as the hospital bills.

She snatched the file from him, staring right back. "And if you were doing your job right in the first place to help these people, I wouldn't have to resort to that." She turned on her heel and walked back down the hall. Shepard stepped a few feet away, before stopping. "By the way, me hunting you down doesn't end when the Vakarian's leave the building." She resumed her walk and the doctor watched her go, letting a slow hiss from his throat like a deflating balloon.

Shepard returned the data pad to the nurses station a few minutes after she accessed her account. The nurse took it gently, telling her she'd get the first round started shortly. "Put it under anonymous donation." She told her.

The nurse nodded, making the arrangements. "Absolutely, Mrs. Vakarian." Now the name made her beam and for a moment she allowed herself to think about the name.

 _Commander Vakarian._ She couldn't help but grin.

Down the hall an elevator slid open- Doctor Vali was no longer there to be seen; three armed police officers stepped out into the hall and locked eyes with her. When they reached for their weapons she stiffened, quickly going to the hospital room. Something didn't sit right about them already going for weapons. "Garrus." She hissed loudly and he jerked up from his chair, moving to be by her side solely because of her expression.

Garrus was there by her side seeing the men brushing past nurses and doctors who happen to cross their path. "What's going on?" He put himself between her and the officers that still hand their hands on their pistols around their belt. There were two hospital security officers that tried to stop them, but badges flashed and they were let through- leaving the two trailing behind.

She took him by the arm, "Don't- they should only be here to ask me some questions." Shepard hardly believed that herself with the way they were looking at her. "Look- stay here with your mother." Garrus was about to argue, "She'll be fine, Garrus. But you need to be here for her." He took her hand in his, a small shake of his head. "Trust me." She whispered to him as the door slid open behind her. Shepard kissed him and stepped away.

Garrus felt his chest tightened; this scene was far too familiar. She stepped back and pulled her hand away from his, turning toward the men who'd come to take her. He tensed as they pulled weapons as soon as she was close enough to get out a pair of handcuffs.

"Commander Shepard, put your hands behind your back! You're under arrest!"


	28. Whatever It Takes

_Something was wrong._

Shepard was at the end of the hallway in front of him. Garrus watched her, stiff from the bottom of his spine to the nape of his long neck. One of the three officers leaned down to say something to her, and even at this distance he could see the quick intake of breath from the rise of her chest. The slight fraction of an inch that her eyes widened into, then that cold hard stare she gave the Turian speaking to her. Garrus swallowed, glancing around at the people that crowded the hall to see what was happening.

They should have only questioned her- _not arrested_. There was absolutely no reason to come at her with guns drawn. Even if she _was_ highly dangerous- _she was a decorated military officer for fuck's sake._ Shepard's green eyes flickered to his for a moment; trying to translate something important over a hundred feet within a span of a few seconds before she was almost shoved into an elevator. Garrus met her gaze and for a moment was confused at what he saw there.

As soon as she was out of sight, the last officer stepped into the elevator. The Turian, his badge said Koshi on it was, who was tailing them held his gaze for a second too long. Koshi had disappeared into the metal doors- Garrus was moving. He went to the nurse's station. "I need to make a call." The tone in his voice made it clear it was an order and not a suggestion.

The nurse moved out of his way and Garrus' heel bounced as he held the phone to his ear. Someone picked up on the other end, more than likely a secretary. He doubted she knew anything, but she knew who he'd need to speak to. He didn't have time to be polite either. "This is Advisor Vakarian, I report directly to Primarch Victus. Contact his office if you need a clearance check. I need to know if there are any officers dispatched to Colihayes Hospital within the last hour." There was an audible clicking on the line that was scanning his vocals and he could hear her checking his name on her system. Her talons clicked like human nails did on keys. _He'd listen to Shepard do it on a laptop for years-_

 _"I'm sorry, sir. I don't see any records of a dispatch being sent to Colihayes today at all. I see your calling from there now, do you need me to send over a unit?... Sir?"_

He was already moving, missing the dock entirely when he tried to hang up. The elevator was too slow, so he took the stairs. Vaulting over railing and taking steps four or ten at a time, Garrus hit the first floor and looked around frantically. He had no ID to go to the hotel security- by the time they ran his name and voice print Shepard could be… His head snapped around, feeling his muscles tense. He was moving to the front door, side stepping a doctor who had walked in front of him.

 _Where are you, Shepard?_

He thought he saw something outside. A flash of red hair- Garrus slid into the door that failed to open before he got there. No one stepped in the way of a Turian running full speed out of a building. The sun hit his skin as he saw the officers from before pushing a limp Shepard into the back of a police vehicle. He memorized the numbering on the paint job, teeth gritting as he continued to advance on them; vaulting over a parked car in the process. Koshi seemed to notice and hit the one driving in the arm impatiently to get them to leave faster.

Garrus ripped the officer in the passenger seat right through the window. Granted, it was a bad decision on Koshi's part to try to roll up the window as Garrus closed the distance. The one driving drove off without Koshi as Garrus grappled with him on the ground. Garrus twisted, trying to get to the back door of the vehicle but was pulled away at the last second by the officer on the pavement. There was an angry roar as Garrus kicked him off, rolling away before the back end of the police car crushed his head. He got up when the officer did, and the other pulled a gun from his holster. The Turian stood his full height, a snarl on his face.

"I'm getting real sick of this shit." Garrus growled at him, and the officer spat a piece of glass out of his mouth, blue wetting the pavement.

"Good- I'll arrest you for assault and obstruction!" The officer leveled his gun, "And that's if I don't shoot you first!"

Garrus looked behind him at the vehicle retreating and turned his head back to look back at the officer. "You're either not a real cop or a dirty one. Neither I like."

There was a split second before the officer smirked at him, "Too bad. Doesn't mean shit either. I've got the gun and you'll do as I say." He gestured with the gun for Garrus to get on his knees. "Especially since we've got _her_."

His head slowly turned from side to side, cracking his neck once, then twice. "No, that means I'm going to find her after I finish with you." His face darkened considerably, "And if she's not exactly the way she left, I'm coming back to kill you."

xXx

Things happened quickly enough that she couldn't process it all. She was being shoved around, but a fog was so thick in her vision she was bouncing off the side of the vehicle. They had given her something- she could barely stand.

Shepard tried to settle her warping vision by shutting one eye. The heat was terrible out here- and she realized she was standing on sand; having lost one of her foam sandals. Her redhair fell into her face as someone bounced her off the side of the police vehicle and she hit the dirt. There was tightness around her wrist and she let her eyes roll around in her head for a moment. _"Fuck… get up… get up…"_ She managed to get herself in a sitting position to see two Turians a few feet away. The police officers from before. She wouldn't have gone with them at all if they hadn't threatened to open fire in the middle of the hospital. Their voices were muted in her ears but they were distracted. She could try to get away- maybe?

Shepard swallowed, her throat felt like sandpaper. Images of a rag going over her face earlier made her certain that they had drugged her with something. _"It's so hot… I go… gotta run… Hot…"_ What really started to have her come back into reality was the sound of sand and rock being shoveled. They had come out here to get rid of her. Bits of conversation floated in and out as she tried to scoot herself underneath the vehicle into the shadow now she wouldn't puke.

 _"Soon as we get rid of her we can get the fuck out of here."_ The taller one snapped to the shorter, who looked terrified at the thought.

 _"We just left him back there! That fucking guy ripped him through the window- What the fuck man-!"_ His voice was taking a new note and the taller smacked him hard with the shovel. There was a thunk of a body hitting the ground and a hiss of satisfaction.

 _"Idiot. Orders are orders. Get rid of her. Not second guess me!"_ The larger snarled at him, and continued to dig, not noticing Shepard slowly slipping out of sight and onto the other side of the vehicle on a belly crawl. In all honesty, it was all she could manage. And for a split second of false clarity underneath the hot Palavin sun, she'd thought she had gotten away. As to why she didn't just drive off in the vehicle- she would blame on her mental facilities later. A heavy boot came down beside her head and she laid still, green eyes turning to look up at the Turian. _"Where ya think ya going?"_

For a moment she let herself drift feeling cold steel press against her temple. To that place on Earth Garrus and she had visited before. To the silky white curtains that waved in the beach breeze. A tinkling of wind-chimes and laughter of the crew… She could hear Vega, Joker, Liara, Kasumi, Javak- Miranda. Grunt was benching a drunk Tali, who was thrilled by it. Thane and Mordin were there. So was Ashley and Anderson and… _Garrus._ She drifted off entirely to the mercy of the memory as her eyes slammed shut, the last of her strength failing.


	29. In The Name Of

Shepard's eyes slowly opened; but not too quick to draw attention. She stayed as still as possible, only opening them a fraction of an inch to see a leather cushion in front of her. The redhead took in sounds next, listening to the hum of an engine and the clinking of ice in a glass. Wherever she was, was entirely too quiet for a hospital. And it certainly wasn't as bar-like she imagined heaven to be. There was no warmth of Garrus beside her, no cat sleeping entirely too close to her face, and the angle she was laying in made her hip hurt.

"You're a hard woman to find, Shepard." A familiar voice said softly, with a little bit of a stiffness to it. She sat up slowly, looking at none other than Aria T'Loak sitting across from her. Her purple hue sent a glow over the inside of the vehicle. The seats were plush facing each other, a window for the driver to speak to them was behind Aria's head. It was shut and Shepard definitely noted it this wasn't the same vehicle she'd been shoved into earlier.

She had questions, but didn't ask them yet. Perhaps she didn't want to know the details. The bits and pieces she remembered were unpleasant enough. "Always dramatic, Aria." She rubbed the back of her neck, looking up at the Asari with only mild apprehension. "How'd you find me?"

"My men found you about to be in a shallow grave on this god forsaken planet. I've had them watching you since you walked out of Durmic Hospital. Vakarian has been ripping apart the city sense you went missing. Besides…." Aria drank out of her glass, some sort of neon green liquid that hissed as it moved around with the ice. "You don't keep in touch already; I wanted a meeting face to face before Oseser's stragglers got away with murder." Her eyes stared into hers, voice soft and deadly- as always. Both of them ignored the very literal pun for the moment.

"I didn't know you cared that much. You knew Oseser?" Aria snorted at her, uncrossing and recrossing her long legs. A flash of teeth behind her smile made the uneasiness grow ever so slightly.

"Eclipse was sent out to take care of a problem that has been a thorn in my side. Not only are they dead, for the most part, but also the _issue_. Now here you are, in the middle of things as usual." She looked like a predator staring at her. "I want to know _everything_ that happened in that hospital."

A fraction of a second before Shepard leaned back, she crossed her arms. "Why do you want to know? The team you sent was an army, Aria. You seem pretty concerned about it."

"Mel'Jam Oseser was as much as a bastard as he was a business partner. Before he stabbed me in the back. Literally." Her voice seemed almost romantic at the thought, "I wanted to choke the life out of him myself, but that wasn't an option this time with how heavily guarded he was. His operation wasn't only killing my business but causing a stir among my gangs. The Legion are problematic in general for my empire."

It seemed a good enough reason for Aria to get involved with something; so Shepard told her what happened like she asked. The Eclipse that had tried to kill her, the explosions, the reapers, torture and the hostages, anything that Aria seemed interested in she stored for examination later. Aria always had a reason for paying attention to someone or something. When she finished, Shepard asked questions in return. "Why are you here on Palavin?" _If_ they were even still on Palavin; she couldn't see outside and had no idea how long she'd been gone. Garrus was probably worried out of his mind. "Oseser is dead. I helped take off his head with a grenade myself."

"Business, if you must know." Aria's voice was stiff again, ending that line of questioning before it went any further. There was a sick smile that curved her painted lips, "Music to my ears about Oseser. I couldn't be sure when they showed the body on the news. At least I can trust you to be honest. I have been… _concerned_ , with Oseser's love with the Reaper tech."

Shepard snorted, staring at Aria for a moment. "I heard about them harvesting but I haven't gotten a chance to look into it. What do you know about it?"

Aria's lips pulled back again, something cross between a snarl to a sneer graced her features for a moment. "Harvesting? He was nauseatingly adamant on recreating reaper weaponry and more mutated freaks. Not just harvesting. If he could, he'd probably make himself into one." Her eyes focused on something outside but Shepard didn't look away from her. "They found something- I'm surprised you haven't heard of it yet. A reaper relay gate- and they wanted it. Oseser used to bitch about not having the means to go through it. So he harvested the reaper ships for 'keys'."

"Keys to heaven?" Shepard's voice was soft, remembering what Hacket had told her about the gate. The Normandy's mission just got more complicated it seemed. "I have heard of it. No one even knows what's on the other side. Or how to get it working. He have any idea what was on the other side?"

"Resources, the chance to bring them back. Hell, a home world of those bastards. I'm not sure and neither was he. Oseser bet everything to take fallen Reapers apart. On Palavin, on Thessia, Earth…" She shook her head, "I might applaud him if he wasn't such an idiot to think he could control them. The Illusive Man had the moment and failed… thanks to you." Aria tapped her fingers on the glass, "Oseser had business partners and I personally plan on having them meet a very bloody end. The Legion have no leader now, and serve anything that has a flea bitten maw and a sharp tongue."

"I don't plan on getting in your way." Shepard told her calmly, "I had my own investment, or else I wouldn't have known anything about this. I'm guessing they're going to have an opposition near the gate too. I might take a look myself and see what all the fuss is about." She wasn't about to share she was going on an Alliance mission to the place- at least not yet.

"Fine by me. At the rate your settling my scores for me, I won't have to invest any more of my men." Her eyes flashed, "Speaking of which, next time my men are around could you try not killing them all?"

"They shot at me first." Aria chuckled to herself as the vehicle pulled to a stop. The door opened and she could see the steps of the police station she had been to days ago at this point.

"It was good seeing you again, Shepard. Keep in touch." The door shut when the redhead got out. Still missing one foam slipper and in borrowed hospital clothing, she marched up the steps of the police station. She sighed through her nose, nothing like nearly getting buried alive and then rescued by a gang leader who made out with you once.

xXx

 _"Shepard?"_

Relief flowed through her as Garrus' voice tensely came over the phone. She'd been at the police station for an hour at this point. Talking to several different officers and being stuck in an interrogation room for the most part of it. She had a headache from whatever chemical that Oseser's men had used on her earlier and was trying to fill in the blanks of how she got from the hospital into Aria's lap. At least this time she hadn't been incredibly drunk. "I'm okay… I'm at the police station."

It had taken some time to find Garrus. The hospital hadn't seen him, and Castis had spoken with her briefly. The man had grown on her in such a short time. He had been the one to find him and get him to call her. _"Thank you, spirits…"_ There was a sound of a relieved breath, _"I'm on my way there now. Are you in one piece? Are you safe for now?"_

She nodded to herself, "Yeah, I'm safe. I ended up getting some help from a… friend. I'll tell you later. They're holding me here for questioning though. How's everybody?" She was referring to the Vakarian family.

" _Worried about you. Dad's been pacing a hole in the floor since you called. Mom's still asleep, but her heart stopped swelling_ …" There was a quiet pause before he said softly, _"Someone anonymously donated to pay off her entire treatment and her hospital bills here. Not to mention any other's that might come up in the future."_

A smile ghosted her features as her fingernail went over a spot on the table she was sitting at. "Sounds like something good finally happened to good people." Another pause.

 _"Thank you."_ He whispered it, and felt her eyes start to water a little. _She was fine. Vetra was fine._ Garrus was coming. He seemed to hear the hitch in her breath and his voice was a little brittle. _"You okay, honey?"_

Her voice took a moment to even out again, "Yeah… Yeah… I'm just really glad you're alright."

There was a breathless laugh, _"Me? What about you? Gave me a heart attack. I'm ten minutes out."_

She shook her head a little, "I'm fine. A bit of a headache but no new bruises surprisingly. Just get here soon, I've pissed off enough cops today I might need back-up."

 _"I'll be there. Promise."_

xXx

Shepard looked up at the door opening to her interrogation room. Her eyebrows shot up as Primarch Victus stepped in with an aide and the chief of police behind him. "Commander." He greeted and she stood, taking the hand that he offered. "Good to see you in one piece."

"Not as much as I am. I didn't expect to see you here, Primarch. I hope you weren't on my emergency contact list." She smiled at she said it, making the older Turian chuckle.

"I'd get too many calls if I were. No, but someone claimed to be from my office earlier trying to pull information on an arrest. When I found out it was Garrus Vakarian I felt the need to do a little investigating myself. Turns out you've had one hell of a vacation."

"I can assure you that this wasn't planned ahead of time."

Victus was at least good natured about it, "Garrus explained already. I'm launching a full investigation into this precinct." He glanced at the police chief, who practically shrunk under his gaze. "And into whatever the Legion was doing here on Palavin. Reports of Eclipse are flooding in as well."

"I might be able to shed some light on that." Shepard sighed. "You're not going to be happy about it either." Victus let her explain what she meant and a few minutes later he looked twenty years older.

The Primarch stepped aside, "Meet me outside in the lobby once you've been approved to leave. We have much to discuss. Garrus is waiting for you there. They wouldn't let him in without ID and I think he's about to scale the building to get to you." Shepard agreed and he left the room, his aid and the chief following behind him without a word. At least the police force was going to be checked into.

xXx

Not five minutes later she was being escorted through the precinct from the interrogation room to the lobby. At least they had given her a pair of spare boots and a jacket. Even if both were a little big on her still. Seriously, how hard was it to find her size?

It was just by chance that she looked in their direction, and stopped short when. There were two kids sitting on a bench. Shepard recognized them both like they were burnt into her memory. They were hostages from the hospital that had been one of the hardest groups to evacuate.

Eclipse had them pinned down in a hallway after Castis had had the ceiling come down on him. She half shielded the kids with her body as a grenade bounced off the wall and she deflected it with a flare of what had been left of her shields. It was bloody… but they had survived to see another day. Now here they were here in front of her.

A Turian boy, probably a teenager from his size, and a human girl who was just barely old enough to be a toddler sat on a bench together. Both were wrapped in a policeman's jacket that was big enough to cover their shoulders. She slowed and the officer escorting her did too. It had been _days_ since they were rescued. "What are they still doing here?" Shepard asked, a little demand in her voice.

The officer looked taken aback for a moment, "Only two kids that haven't been claimed. All the other kids have been picked up by family or friends. No next of kin. Social services are coming to get them when they can, but they are so back-logged from the war… still it has been a bit." A frown appeared on Shepard's face, "Kinda of sad really, the little girl doesn't even know how to speak." The said girl looked right at Shepard, her hazel eyes drew her in from across the room. Shepard stepped away from the officer and went toward them, ignoring the looks she was getting.

The teenager was missing his right leg at the knee, but when she grew closer he sat up straighter; putting a protective arm around the toddler. A growl came from the back of his throat, "We've answered your questions, leave us alone!" His voice had a flange to it, not yet deep enough for an adult but still had force behind it. She slowed her approach, but didn't stop completely until she was close enough to talk to them.

"I'm not with the police. Do you remember me?" The teenager narrowed his eyes at her; arm still around the toddler who now had two of his fingers in her tiny hand and was squeezing them; her thumb in her mouth. She didn't make any noise at all. It was hard to recognize Shepard without the bloody wounds and the armor, but finally he nodded.

"You were at the hospital." The teenager realized, but still seemed stiff. He glanced at the girl and then back to her, "What do you want?"

Shepard had had friendlier greetings but smiled anyway. It's not like they hadn't been through a lot, "To know your name… and if I can do anything to help." The Turian cocked his head at her, glancing behind her at something she didn't turn to see. Someone had come up behind her.

"You already helped though." He shrugged one shoulder and Shepard understood what he referred to.

"What's her name?" Again a shrug and Shepard looked at her. "Hi." She said and the little girl did the same head cocking gesture that the boy did. It must have been a Turian trait, since she had seen Garrus do it too.

"She's deaf." He said and Shepard turned to look back to him, "She didn't get a name so I named her." At her name, or at least the vibrations of his voice, the toddler looked up at him expectantly. "Nova."

Shepard felt her chest tightened, "What do you mean she didn't get a name?"

The Turian sized her up. She got that look from high ranking military officials, not teenagers. He seemed to decide he could tell her, "Her mom was… with me there. Died before she got to give her a name." His voice muted itself as he pulled the little girl closer. She cuddled up to him and Shepard swallowed. That was a horrible thought that this near toddler had practically been raised in captivity.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. She looks like you've taken really good care of her." He puffed up a little at that; Shepard couldn't help but find it endearing.

"She needs me." He commented and his entire body went rigid as he returned his attention to those around them. His eyes looked at the officers walking around and seemed to sink back further in the seat. Either out of fear of them or protection for Nova, Shepard wasn't sure.

"Do you know anyone I can try to find for you? Family or friends?" He shook his head.

"There isn't anyone." The teenager muttered, looking up at her. His eyes were a startling green when they caught the light. "She doesn't have anyone either… I know what's gonna happen. You don't have to lie."

Shepard rose an eyebrow and he growled at her, as if she was purposefully playing dumb. "We'll go to a home. I've been to them before… before all _that_. I'm not going back. I don't care what I have to do, I'll take care of us both." The teen puffed up again and she glanced at his leg. He wouldn't get very far with that. She knew about that life too; the words he said were familiar to her about never wanting to go back from where she came from.

She heard a throat clear behind her and she turned to see Garrus there. His eyes were on her, a soft look that was a mixture of relief and understanding. He glanced at the two kids sitting on the bench and then back at Shepard. He came closer, looking between the two. She didn't know how long he had been standing there, but he looked at them the way she had.

"How'd you get that, kid?" He asked, gesturing his chin at his leg with the massive scarring and the boy looked at it himself. The Turian looked up at Garrus, narrowed eyes. Just daring him to say something off about it though Shepard knew he wouldn't.

"I kicked that guy who got his head blown off as hard as I could in a bad spot. Then I kicked him with the other leg too but I hopped too fast for him to get that one." It would have been funny if it hadn't had such heartbreaking results. Garrus looked at Shepard, a new expression on his face.

"Got a minute?" He asked Shepard quietly. But before she could get too far, the teen piped up again.

"Tera." He clarified at the look of confusion she gave him, "My name. My name is Tera." She didn't skip a beat after that.

"I'm Commander Shepard. It's nice to meet you, Tera. Give me a minute and I'll be right back, okay?" She took Garrus by the hand to step a few yards away out of ear shot. As soon as they were out of the way, Shepard took a moment to squeeze the fingers wrapped in hers. They could only allow this much of a reunion for now. Later they would be all over each other- celebrating another victory. A victory where they both made it back in each other's arms.

"I know what you're going to say." He whispered to her, eyes still on the kids sitting on the bench. The teen was still staring at them, as was the toddler. He only broke his gaze to level with her's.

"Do you?" Shepard said softly, looking up at him. "It's sudden. With no thought or planning. We're not even married yet. I have absolutely no training in this. Don't forget we still have that mission and-." She listed off the reasons why it seemed like a bad idea… but couldn't deny it felt right.

Garrus bumped his head gently into hers, quieting her. "Love, we can handle _anything_. It'll be bad just as much as good at times. Neither of us are trained- or _wired_ , for this kind of thing. But I'd want no one else by my side to experience it with. And hell, I've always wanted kids."


	30. Higher

"I wanna get one thing straight right now. Between us, before you do this." Shepard breathed, the paper between her fingertips. A little perspiration made the paper wrinkle slightly as her green gaze shifted to look up at Garrus. He met hers, unmoving and waiting for what she had to say.

With his arms held above his head, he let out a slow sigh calming his heart rate, "Go ahead. But we're way past that at this point." The Turian adjusted himself where he was, shifting his legs slightly apart to place himself more firmly. Where he was standing groaned with his weight, slightly unstable, and for once in his life he considered a diet.

"You realize this is going to be long, and hard. You know what you're doing right?" She sounded like that was the opposite of what she wanted to deal with. "And we've got so much more we can do besides this..."

There was a brief laugh as he tensed where he was, picking up a tool that had been discarded in their flurry of motion earlier, "Sometimes when it's rough, I just get done faster. Never underestimate me." Garrus winked at her.

She rolled her eyes, "This damn thing is literally a bomb, -give it a little bit more respect?" Shepard turned the paper upside down again, a sweat drop appearing on her temple and he hummed.

"Fine… fine. Which wire? The red one, or the blue one?"

"Blue? When did we get a blue wire? It says white or green on the instructions!" She hissed and Garrus stepped off the five foot ladder to come beside her to look at the installation instructions too. The light fixture swung dangerously above them in the breeze in their newly renovated kitchen. Large bay windows allowed hot wind to blow in, ruffling the plastic on the floor; protecting it from fresh paint that covered almost a third of the room. "Seriously, I think the shop gave us the wrong instructions. This looks more like how to dismantle a ship, not put in a fan light." She muttered as Garrus took the instructions from her with a cock of his head.

"I think they're talking about the blue wires for the lightbulbs, not installing. But I don't want to go plugging in wires and have this thing spark." Garrus murmured, climbing back up the ladder. Shepard picked up the paint brush she'd been using to do the trim on the windows. They had decided to go for a nice crisp white, while the walls were deep blue. The house had a strangely ocean theme to it with all the blues and silvers, but she didn't complain in the slightest. Garrus used his screw driver to mount it better on the ceiling while she watched nervously. She knew a crystal fixture was a bad idea.

"Be careful up there." She murmured just as he jumped a little, like he'd been shocked. The redhead stared at him with wide eyes as he slowly turned his head to grin at her. She spackled him with paint, making a face as she shook her head regardless of the laughter that came from both of them. "Tease!"

Garrus tied two wires together and asked for her to flip the light switch in the corner of the room. She did, and the fixture came to life in his hand. "There we are!" He made a content sound screwing it back into the ceiling with a satisfied smile. Stepping down off the ladder, he took the second paint brush she offered him. "Told you I knew what I was doing without the instructions. If I can calibrate a ship I can put in a light."

She shook her head, "How many turians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

"Exactly one. And a cute human too." He leaned over, slipping an arm around her waist, and nipped her on the ear, drawing a laughing shriek from her. His head drew back, Shepard still in his arms, paint brush in her hand dangerous close to dripping on him. "Speaking of ships, did Hacket get back with you yet?"

"No, his secretary fed me a line about him being in meetings all day and told me she'd give him my message. And here I thought he'd be waiting with bated breath." When he let her go, Shepard wiped a spot of paint that dripped on the wood floor with her finger; quickly enough it didn't leave a mark behind. "Either way, we still have a few months to wait. Joker mentioned the Normandy was running into some issues with the power-cells. They knew she was going to be a big ship so they overstated how much she would need. I'm sure Hacket wants to ask what happened with the hospital too."

It had been two weeks since the raid on the hospital. The media was all over them since then too. Was Shepard a double agent for the Turian military, why had she taken down the ring, wasn't she on vacation- were just a few of the questions she was pelted with. Thankfully Vetra was coming home today, as were Solana and Castis. "It leaves us plenty of time for the wedding planning too." Garrus said contently, reaching the higher points that Shepard hadn't been able to reach in her painting path. She stayed crouched by the bottom of the window, humming her response. She hadn't really believed it before- but now that they were making plans on flowers and themes, it was becoming more and more real.

She took in a deep breath, "I haven't even thought about it since all of this started." And it had been one hell of a couple weeks to completely forget she was getting married to Garrus Vakarian. They were parents now too. That was probably the biggest shock of all. They had adopted Tera and Nova, two kids that were held hostage and used as slave labor for Oseser's gang, the Legion. There had been a lot of paperwork to sign, a lot of questions to answer, and definitely some rearranging of their home. Castis had approved of them making it into a permanent guest house, and wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. From where she was at the window she could see the studs for their rooms outside, connected off the main garage. The guest house would feature a room for each of the kids coming and them as well. A lot of work, but definitely worth it.

Background checks were required to adopt, but were obviously not a problem for them; who in the galaxy would refuse Commander Shepard an adoption application? There was some rebuttal on the 'human-turian' relationship, but even that had been smoothed over. All they were waiting on now was a few minor details, and the kids would be theirs. Garrus and Shepard had stayed up late talking about it so many times over the past weeks that often it dissolved into stupid grins. Garrus wanted kids, Shepard wanted a family, and they certainly had gotten them both. It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

Garrus started humming as he painted and she couldn't help but snile. It was almost funny how they could be soldiers one moment and do such domestic things like this the next. They loved every moment of it though. She watched the clouds roam in front of the sun, casting shadows on the kid's rooms that hadn't yet been fully built.

Castis and Vetra had their jaws drop as they had sprung the news on them. Solana had actually swore nearly falling out of her hospital bed. It had been an interesting conversation to say the least; explaining to his family that in the middle of gunfights and near death experiences they had found two kids to adopt. Vetra had been weak, but had smiled very proudly, "The war split too many families apart. I'm glad that at least two are getting them back."

Castis had remained quiet as he sat in his hospital chair beside Vetra. His eyes flickered between them both, like he was examining them from the inside out. "Are you both sure you can handle kids on top of everything else?" He asked, though not in the tone she expected. It was more concerned than patronizing. She had steeled herself to respond, knowing that the decision was the right one.

"It won't be easy, but nothing worth it ever is." She had told him and Castis seemed to understand that. He received a similar response from Garrus and he gave a single nod of approval.

"Well I guess you'll have to do some remodeling to the guest house if we want to see our grandkids." And that was all the approval they needed. Though the kids had to stay at a temporary guardian's house until all the paperwork processed, at least they were together. Garrus and Shepard took to visiting them more often than new parents probably should have; but they didn't care. Neither did the kids, and Nova had taken to climbing Garrus like a tree to sit on his shoulder. Tera was still stand-offish, but Shepard wouldn't give up on making him feel he was safe. Gods only knew, everyone deserved that once in a while.

"Where are we going to have it?" Garrus' question brought her back from her thoughts, and she blinked up at him replaying what he said before she answered.

"Oh… I figured on the Normandy's Bridge." She made a face seconds later, "But that won't work will it- your mother can't travel and it might not be a great idea to have a bunch of people in a ship that's still under construction. Knowing our luck Tali will get drunk and fall through the floor."

"Or Grunt, and I think that would be much harder to handle." They snickered at each other, picturing the Krogan halfway into another deck and wiggling was probably less humorous than they were imagining it. Garrus finished the top trim with a flick of his wrist and glanced out the window. "We'll think of a place. Do you want something quiet or…" He let the question hang and she shrugged.

"I know that if we didn't invite the crew they would probably show up anyway." She smiled to herself, "What's a Turian wedding like?" She went over to their pre-made drinks on the kitchen counter. The island that Garrus had made still wasn't secured enough to even put a glass on top of it. The entire ex-garage was a work in progress.

Garrus thought, "I've only been to one or two when I was younger. Well…" He seemed to think of the best way to describe it. "We call them bonding ceremonies instead of marriages. It's sort of lost in translation." He explained as Shepard took to a barstool to listen to him intently. He chuckled a little at her face that was solely concentrating on him, "Both mates make small speeches to whoever comes, and swear an oath to an executor. Rather than a ring or something, turians usually bite each other-." She looked horrified for a moment. Garrus kept his face straight as possible, "-Somewhere near the collarbone. Since turians mate for life, the bite leaves deep scars as a mark to show the union. That's the traditional way at least. A lot of my generation started opting out of that though. Someone finally realized biting hurt along the way. " Shepard rubbed her neck absently and he chuckled, "I'm not going to bite you. -Unless you want me to..." He added the last bit with a wink and she rolled her eyes, resting her chin on her hand. "Divorce is rare, remarriage after the loss of a spouse is common and acceptable by cultural standards…" He shrugged, "It's usually in a temple or somewhere else special. Long as there is an executor it doesn't really matter. What's a human wedding like?"

She blinked, figuring he had already done the research on it. "I've never really been to a lot either." Nor was she one of those women who dreamed of the day she got married. Honestly it had never even crossed her mind. "Usually the woman wears some sort of white gown, and the man wears a tux. They say vows to each other, sort of like turians do I'd imagine. A priest acts as the executor and they kiss at the end of it. Exchange rings somewhere in-between. Then there is usually some sort of party where the couple dance and eat cake- and probably get drunk."

Garrus nodded, "Sounds pretty close to a turian wedding… I have to ask, do you want to maybe combine cultures or do two weddings?"

Shepard laughed, "Two weddings? That's a little over the top for me. Let's just try out a turian wedding and see how it goes. I think your family would feel more comfortable with it too." He shook his head.

"Hey now, don't go giving away your dream wedding day for my family. It's your day too." She grinned at him, putting both hands under her chin as Garrus leaned down to her height.

"I don't need a fancy wedding, Garrus. I've already got what I want." He kissed her then, gentle and then a little more passionate. A hand coming to cup the back of her head… Two fools in love. She pulled back from a particularly long kiss, a little loss for breath, "There has been something bothering me though." His brow raised, pulling back to cock his head to the side curiously. He was leaned against the counter top, legs crossed in front of him as if he could be there all day with her. "What exactly am I going to be called?"

He shook his head, not understanding her, so she went on, "In human culture, one of the couple takes the other's last name or they hyphenate it. I've been called Shepard for long I practically don't have a first name." She frowned slightly, "But I also really don't want to miss out on being called by your last name either."

Garrus slowly nodded, looking up at the ceiling light they had installed. "When turians are named- marriage or birth, they take on the last name of the parent of their same gender unless one forfeits a name- like my mother did. In linage documents, it usually show both names separated by a hyphen though we don't go by it. So mine is originally Vakarian-Valder." Her brows rose, not knowing this about him. "So I really don't mind if your last name is hyphened… Makes it harder for people to track you if you switch up your name every now and then too." There was a much gentler kiss to her forehead, telling her not to worry. "No matter what name you take, you're still Commander Shepard. My amazing, smok'in wife, who has saved the galaxy so many- you know what, I'm changing my last name to Shepard."

She kissed him, then swatted him away when he made the joke, "Please, Garrus Vakarian just has too good of a ring to it and you know it. So that's it then. On official documents I'll be Shepard-Vakarian." He nodded once, raising his glass to her's.

They clinked the two together just as Garrus turned his head to look out the window again, "Hey, they're here early." He murmured selecting a towel from the sink to wipe whatever paint was left on his hands.

Shepard leaned up to peek out the window and saw Castis help Solana out of the backseat of the rentable. The Vakarian's insurance for their car didn't cover bombs no matter how they spun it but the Primarch had been gracious enough to let them borrow a vehicle for personal use until they were able to get another. Perks of working for the government she supposed. The redhead put her paint brush in a cup of water and walked toward the door, glancing at Garrus who hadn't moved. "What's wrong?"

Garrus blinked, turning his gaze away from the window. "Nothing, just seems odd to see them after all this. Guess it just hit me I'm talking wedding plans and I've got two kids on the way." She smiled, nodding ever so slightly.

"Another adventure. It'll work out." Shepard promised and turned back to the door, letting the burst of hot air into their fixer upper.

When Vetra and Solana were comfortably inside the family home, Shepard went to straightening things out of nervousness. She knew they were coming home, knew that things were better now between her and Castis- but felt unease settle in her chest. They hadn't talked since their mutual raid on the hospital and letting his parents know they had adopted kids. There was still a threat that Castis may still mildly hate her, and perhaps not want her anywhere near their home… It was senseless worry Garrus had told her, but it hadn't completely banished the thought.

A throat cleared behind her and she jumped, turning to see Castis at the doorway. She'd forgotten how quiet the man moved. He stepped out, with his arms behind his back. "Hello, Shepard." He greeted softly.

"Hey, how're you doing?" Shepard asked him, putting down the magazines that she had been straightening. The living room had been cleaned since Garrus and herself had been sent back to the house to get it ready for Vetra's homecoming. Since the media practically followed them to the bathroom and back, the couple had decided it would be better for Vetra if they were hidden away at the guest house and not having pictures of them taken while they were at the hospital. Castis came toward her where they were in the living room, seeming to search for words in the process.

"Much better now. The injuries I sustained are healed and Vetra says she's feeling better than she has in years." Shepard gave him a smile, glad to see that he even looked relaxed as he said it. Castis mulled over something before clearing his throat again, almost as awkwardly as his son did when he was trying to find the right words, "I did some research."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows rose, standing still as he fixed her with the gaze his son also inherited. The similarities between them would have been funny if she wasn't being x-rayed by her soon to be father-in-law.

"I thought it was odd to have an anonymous donation come out of nowhere like it did. And even if it did, I wanted to thank the person. They not only saved my wife's life, but… probably kept my sanity in check in the process. It didn't take long to do some back work." The Turian swallowed. Shepard hadn't moved a muscle, waiting for him to finish. "Thank you." His voice was very soft, "I treated you terribly since you arrived. And you've more than proven yourself before you came through my door; I shouldn't have questioned it. I blinded myself, and I'm sorry. I can see you love my son and… anyone willing to do what you've done for this family I'd be honored to have you would stay as a part of it." Castis bowed his head to her. He was probably referring to what was happening before all hell broke loose. She had been on her way out the door and on a transport back to the Citadel.

She hadn't expected this, and saw a shadow hovering in the hallway. The outline was undoubtedly Garrus, but him being there didn't change her response to his father. "Thank you, Castis. I… I couldn't sit by and watch. Vetra's important to me. Just like Solana and you are too. I do love Garrus, and I'd be happy to stay for as long as you'll have me." He leaned back up, almost looking a little surprised at her response, but not displeased. This was definitely a new adventure…


End file.
